The resumption of normal programming has returned to City Football Academy Melbourne after Wednesday’s Westfield FFA Cup triumph.
City Head Coach John van’t Schip spoke to the media on Friday ahead of his side’s contest with Brisbane Roar at AAMI Park on Saturday and said the hunger in the side to win more has only been enhanced by the Club’s cup triumph.
His side come into the clash looking to wrap up the week with three wins from three matches and van’t Schip believes his side can complete the task at hand.
“We know how important that game was but that’s history,” he said.
“We know that winning the cup was our first target but there are bigger things to come and the league is only just very young so the game against Brisbane is massive and important.
“The boys are focused, they have been talking about it this morning and tomorrow is a big game. It was a great evening, important for the Club, important for everybody but we want bigger things.
“We are professionals and of course there are emotions in that but we also know we have a job to do and that we want to win things that are even bigger than the FFA Cup. You have to be focused and switched on and it’s not that you can do that in one day, we’ve been talking about this for weeks that we want to have a great season and it doesn’t stop now.
“The confidence is high, the spirit is very good so we’re up for it.”
City face a Brisbane side that defeated them in Round 5 at Suncorp Stadium and van’t Schip is expecting a similar game plan from John Aloisi’s squad who are expected to hit with speed on the counter.
“They had success in the game we played there,” he said.
“John [Aloisi] has changed their style from Ange [Postecoglou] into a defensive, ‘par the bus’ kind of team with players that are quick on the break so we have to be prepared for that.
“We’re going for the strongest possible team and that means that we’re going to look at the physical state of the players but as we said, everybody pulled up well.
“We also know that Brisbane plays in a certain way so we have to be preparing for that as well. We’ll have a look today and then we’ll make a decision tomorrow.”
City take on Brisbane this Saturday night at AAMI Park, kick-off 7.50pm. Make sure you are there at AAMI Park to celebrate our FFA Cup Final win. Take your photo with the trophy and Neil Kilkenny and enjoy City Square before the match. Click here to secure your place for the match or sign up for our 5 Match Membership below.
