The huge games don’t stop for Melbourne City, with another crunch fixture on the horizon – this time away to Western Sydney Wanderers.
Aurelio Vidmar’s squad are in some hot form, having won five of their past six outings, which has opened up the potential for not just an AFC Champions League Elite spot, but perhaps even an unlikely Premiership push.
The City Head Coach spoke with media ahead of the trip to Sydney, touching on a range of matters…
INJURY UPDATES
“[Mathew] Leckie’s got an issue with his hamstring from the 20 minutes that he played last week. Nothing serious, but with his history, everything that pops up gives him a little bit more aggravation, so he’s not going to be there this week.
“Sammy [Souprayen] is not tracking as quickly as we thought, so he won’t be there either.”
WHERE WILL THE SKIPPER LINE UP?
“The odd game he can do a very, very good job for us there [centre back – where Behich lined up last week] and we thought that’d be the same.
“It was fine, but we were having issues with our full backs rather than our central defenders, so we just adjusted that and put Aziz back to the left back.
We know that’s his best position and where he’s best suited, so he’ll start out there again on Saturday night.”
OUR NEW SIGNING
“We needed another keeper and we were searching for… 1; the right person, character-wise. Secondly, the right person who can get close enough to playing our style and someone a little bit more mature. That was the three factors, really, and he [Dakota Ochsenham] fit the bill.
“He’s played over 100 games in the NPL in Adelaide. We know him well, a very good character, good work ethic. So all those things combined helped us make that decision.”
THIS WEEKEND’S CLASH
“They’ve been in great form. I think it’s 8 or 9 games unbeaten, and they started the season slowly, but they’ve just been grinding away and playing some very good football.
“They are one of the leading goal scorers in the competition. They’re scoring freely, they work extremely hard, and they’ve got some really good players around the park, especially in the midfield and the attacking areas.
“We know what we’re up for… it will be a big night. We have to make sure that we have the right mentality, one, to compete with them because they’re a very competitive team. If we can do that, we give ourselves the best shot.”
You can tune into Saturday night’s clash against Western Sydney live and free via 10Bold or 10play. Kick-off at 7:35pm!
