Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat has warned his side must be wary of a Sydney FC still hurting from last week’s loss to Perth Glory at home, which incidentally was their first of the season.
Currently sitting in fourth place – five points behind the Victory – the Sky Blues fell to two late goals from the Glory, after taking the lead earlier through a Shane Smeltz penalty.
“When they went one-nil up they had opportunities to go on and increase their lead, so they’ll be wounded by that last week, make no mistake – so it’ll be a good challenge for us tomorrow night,” Muscat said.
Unlike their opponents this week, the Victory have remained unbeaten in season 2014-15, and will have a great opportunity to make it 10 straight, although for Muscat, the number doesn’t bare any real significance.
“No [it doesn’t mean much to me], maybe in 15-20 years looking back, but at this time there’s only one clear focus,” he said.
“Our preparations have been done now, we’ve worked really hard and gone through every detail possible to give us an advantage. There’s one concentration now and that’s to perform well tomorrow night.
“[The streak hasn’t weighed on our mind] in the slightest. The reality is we’re second on the ladder If trophies were handed out now, we wouldn’t win anything.
“There’s still a long way to go – we’re not going to rest on any laurels, it’s hard work that’s gotten us to this point and there’s a lot more that’s going to be needed to achieve anything this year.”
The head coach also revealed that full-back Scott Galloway and playmaker Gui Finkler are a chance to return from injury in the crunch match.
“They’re an outside chance,” Muscat revealed
“Both of them have trained with the squads during the week, they’ve done a little bit more on their own today just to test them but they’ll be [a chance].
“Our form’s been good, and the return of points has been very good over this period and no risks will be taken without doubt but I want to give them every chance.”
Melbourne Victory face off against Sydney FC tonight at Etihad Stadium, with kick-off scheduled for 7:30pm.