For Melbourne City’s midfield maestro Amy Jackson she’s at “the place to be” in regards to her footballing development, as she lauds the professionalism of the club after their 2-1 derby win over Melbourne Victory.
The former youth international – whose spent time within the senior Matildas set-up as a train-on under Tom Sermani – has eyed improvement as a key indicator of her progression at Melbourne City, where she’s so far thrived under the spotlight of the club.
READ MORE > Eagle Amy Jackson at full flight with Boroondara
She likened the elite set-up of the club to her time in the American College system, and believes it’s the right sort of set up for her to excel.
“Personally for me it’s been an interesting challenge in terms of getting the balance right between life and sport, but as a professional athlete I couldn’t ask for more [to be at City],” Jackson said.
“I think the support staff, the coaches and assistants, they’ve got the resources. I think in the past I’ve likened this experience to something like America in the college system [in regards to] the professionalism, the facilities and the standard.
“You’ve got accountability; there’s no excuses for not getting things right because you’ve got everything you need at your fingertips. For me, I’m at the place I need to be to improve my football.”
Improvement has come not only on the pitch for Jackson, but off it as well, as she praises the supporter turnout at AAMI Park for the historic first ever Women’s Melbourne Derby, to which she was pitted up against her former club.
“It was an interesting hit out. It had an interesting situation for me in playing against former teammates and friends,” she said.
“But I’m really happy we got the three points today and are continuing our momentum going forward.
“For me, it’s a special occasion, my family and friends can come and watch. In terms of the crowd, I’m not sure what the exact numbers were, but there was a really good fan base and I think that’s a positive for both City and Victory, but also for women’s football.
“It was a really big occasion, the first Melbourne Derby. I think it’s set the scene for what’s to come in the future. The quality of players within the state has improved and it’s continuing to improve. Building a foundation now for the girls in the future, it’s really going to be a strong state.”
The win is City’s second straight to start the season, putting the highly fancied team top of the W-League ladder.
Jackson has lauded the effort of her teammates and her coach, pointing towards the squad depth available as a reason why they can challenge for the title in their inaugural season.
“We’ve had a bit of a disrupted pre-season as we haven’t had the full squad in for the whole time. So we’ve adapted to change quite well, we got a really good result last week and this week, we’ve done well without our Matildas players.”
“Credit to Joe [Montemurro] and to the club for really recruiting players that are able to step up on occasions like this. The depth within our squad is good.
“We’ve got high expectations of ourselves, so we’re playing to win the championship this season. We want to continue to raise the bar week-in, week-out.
“That’s not only on the field but off it too, the little things we’re doing at training and our recovery, it’s all a stepping-stone for the finals series for us.