In a crucial clash for Melbourne Victory taking on the league leaders Brisbane Roar tomorrow night, coach Kevin Muscat is relishing the opportunity to take down John Aloisi’s boys and has full confidence his team can do the job.
Despite Muscat’s optimism, he maintained the utmost respect and praise for his counterpart’s work in getting the Roar to their current position.
“Their squad, a lot of their players are still together from when they were winning championships from quite a few years ago, so obviously they’re good players to be able to do that,” Muscat said on Thursday.
“They’re performing really well and they’re the team to beat at the moment, because they’re on top.
“At the moment they’re the champions, because if everything stays as is they’ll win the competition.”
Victory defender Nick Ansell will not start against the Roar tomorrow night, meaning less depth in the midfield with utility Leigh Broxham sliding back into the less-favoured centre-back role.
According to the Victory boss, Ansell is still a week or two away from playing a full game.
“Nick, coming back from injury, won’t start. (It’s) Irresponsible for us to put him out to start this week, he’s available, obviously coming into contention at some stage,” he said.
“(Nick) has worked very hard to get himself to where he is, it was pleasing for everyone involved and even when he came on, I thought he’d done very well but he’ll probably have to wait another week or two.”
Victory were whacked in the first half against Central Coast last week, miraculously overcoming a three-goal deficit to draw 3-3, so there are a number of defensive issues to iron out.
The blue and white have had a number of personnel issues over the course of the season. Ansell’s return suggested a further stability with Leigh Broxham, Oliver Bozanic and subsequently Rashid Mahazi being able to play in the middle.
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Muscat reflected on where things went wrong for the squad and was adamant it was a learning curve for the squad.
“Defending wasn’t great as a team, what was disappointing we were aware of Central Coast in transition and to concede goals was disappointing seeing as that was highlighted,” he said.
“Last week we got punished dearly, because they entered our box three times and scored three goals. From that perspective, I’m not denying we’ve had a look at that and we’ve shown the players and we’ve learnt from it hopefully.
“On the other hand, I think the reminder for us all is we’ve got to draw some confidence from the second half because it was outstanding, we’ve got to this week, get on the front foot, produce, replicate that and maintain it for 90 minutes.
“There’s definitely a template there for us and if anybody, whether you’re playing or not needs any encouragement for what we’re capable of.
“When our attitudes right and perform to our capabilities with what we can do to teams, to do that you’re going to have to work pretty hard and your attitude is going to have to be spot on because anything short in this competition, you come up short, simple as that.
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