Melbourne City Head Coach, Michael Matricciani, and Captain, Rebekah Stott, have given their pre-match thoughts ahead of Saturday night’s clash with Brisbane Roar.
The fixture at AAMI Park will see the two sides go head-to-head for the first time this season and with one point separating the teams on the ladder, it’s shaping up to be an entertaining clash at home.
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Read Rebekah Stott’s pre-match thoughts below…
LADDER LEADERS
“Yes, absolutely [excited for it], top of the table clash and we can’t wait to get into it, and hopefully we get the result.
“I think we’re doing well, we’re continuing to build on our style of play and things are starting to gel and click together. We need a little bit more cohesion and then we’re going to be a very dangerous team.
“We don’t really look at the table too much, obviously it’s nice being up top, but it’s a long season and we just focus on each game, each week, and doing what we can to perform and hopefully the results come. We want to be playing good football that’s going to help us later down in the season and in Champions League.”
STOPPING THE ROAR
“They are very dangerous; you can see from their results that they score goals. Obviously, we want to be tight in defence and not leak anything, but it’s going to take the whole team, 11 players, we’re all defenders really, so we’ll try shut it down as best as we can.
ALL OUT ATTACK
“It’s unreal [to have Holly McNamara back], she’s an incredible player – so talented. It’s so good to have her back on the field with us, her impact is so evident.
“We have such a talented squad and so much depth so being able to bring on Holly, bring on Lo, whoever it is, they’re going to come on and do a job for us and I think as the season goes, we’re just going to get more and more dangerous.”
Read Michael Matricciani’s pre-match thoughts below…
READY TO GO
“She’s [Holly McNamara] ready to start this week. I would say she’s probably [available for] around that 60 minute mark.
“We all know she’s a super talented player, and credit to her she’s gotten back into her rhythm very, very quickly and I think she’s got a lot of levels to keep improving which is very exciting for us and the national team as well.
“She’s a very good player, we all know that, she’s got great strengths in going in behind, she’s getting better at coming to feet and linking up as well, and I think she’s a top player… whether she’s on the bench or starting she’s a key player for us like much of the team.”
READY FOR A FIERCE CONTEST
“I think in the context of the season it’s still early to say it’s a decider or anything like that. I think Brisbane are a good side, they’re in good form and I think we’re playing very well ourselves, so it should be a very entertaining match.
“Everyone who has been available is still available, obviously apart from Bryleeh there was a moment in the match that didn’t affect her in that moment, she didn’t even get any treatment, but started feeling not the greatest after the game, which was a bit of a delayed concussion so she will miss this week.”
