It seems like a straight forward finish to the regular season for the Western Sydney Wanderers.
With the A-League as close as ever, they find themselves fourth, only two points behind league leaders Melbourne City.
The Wanderers play the bottom two in their final two games for season 2015-16, Central Coast at Pirtek Stadium followed by Wellington Phoenix away.
Yet coach Tony Popovic says he is not thinking about the finals just yet as his side looks to snare the premiers’ plate in two weeks time.
“We have to take care of what we can control. If we win on Friday we still give ourselves a chance of achieving first place, if we don’t win Friday then the chance of the premier’s plate is gone,” Popovic said.
“We really want that opportunity to go through another week to give ourselves a chance, we’re playing on Friday night.
POPULAR ARTICLES
Stefan Mauk’s arrival has been crucial to Adelaide United’s title tilt
Roy O’Donovan plays down Adelaide stunner amid Mariners losing run
Carl Valeri delighted to be back in Melbourne Victory selection frame
Western Sydney Wanderers announce new home for 2016-17 season
“We haven’t spoken about the finals because our goals are much higher, to finish first and that’s still possible. Until that happens, we’ll work on the next part which is the finals.”
The Wanderers boss was not using clichés as weaker opponents loom, quick to point out the Wanderers’ 5-2 home defeat against the Phoenix last month.
Western Sydney fell to the floundering Melbourne Victory away 2-0 last Friday night in somewhat surprising circumstances, a result that may be rued should they miss out on first position. But Popovic was confident his men could finish off the run home in style.
“We got punished for every error (against Wellington). The players realise that’s happened, we have to be at our best, and we will be too good for Central Coast. If we’re not at our best then they have an opportunity,” he said.
“We were disappointed with our last half an hour against Victory. I felt we played well until that point.
“Now it’s about putting in a performance that we put in against Adelaide (0-0), which was only a couple of weeks ago, I felt we were outstanding for the whole game.
“We need the rewards we deserve by getting the goals, the players haven’t shown anything to us that would suggest that won’t happen on Friday.”
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
