It looks to be do or die, literally, for Melbourne Victory, as they need to pick up three points against first-placed Western Sydney Wanderers to have any hope of achieving something this season.
The Wanderers sit at the top of the table (42) with the top four being as close as ever with Melbourne City (41), Brisbane Roar (41) and Adelaide United (40) all battling it out for the premier’s plate.
Against Western Sydney on Good Friday, it will not get any easier for the Blue and White, and they face tough fixtures against ninth-placed Wellington Phoenix Saturday week and Brisbane Roar in the final round.
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Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat scoffed at the idea playing the high-flying Wanderers alone would lift the team’s performance.
“If you’re relying on other sources to get you committed to your own football club, you’re best off to not even turn up tomorrow night,” Muscat said.
“I respect what Tony Popovic has done to his club, they’ve got a very good team this season, but I’m not having this idea because we’re playing Western Sydney it’s going to give me extra motivation or add commitment.”
Lawrence Thomas will again step between the sticks, while Stefan Nigro will likely replace Socceroo Jason Geria. Daniel Georgievski and Fahid Ben Khalfallah are also in contention for the match.
The Victory boss was far from happy with the lacklustre performance against Newcastle Jets last Sunday and revealed how ruthless he will be with players who fail to live up to the standards needed.
“The key is our members deserve to come in tomorrow night and see a group who are giving their all for the football club,” he said.
“It’s simply a bare minimum, as a group we’ve had to do some soul searching this week, last week was unacceptable on every front.
“There’s nothing fun for me about last week in reviewing the game. We’ve worked tirelessly once again to give the group the knowledge on the opposition, we’ve worked tirelessly on that. It now comes down to individuals and I want to see a reaction.
“It gets to the point now players who go out there and can’t produce any more effort than what they have produced last week simply can’t play.”
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