Melbourne Heart coach John van ’t Schip says his team is looking to continue improving its game ahead of its away clash with Wellington after a recent run of good form.
Following a character building victory over Perth in searing conditions in Lismore, Heart had six days break before heading overseas to face Wellington, but van ’t Schip isn’t concerned about the schedule.
“[The boys] feel good, it was a difficult game- the circumstances, the trip, it was a tough opponent looking at the history,” he said.
“Their confidence is growing and growing, and we’re getting stronger as a team.
“It’s not like we’re playing two, three days after. We still have six days of preparation before the next game, so it’s a week we can use good.”
While the regional game does not count as an away game, meaning Heart’s winless hoodoo on the road still stands, the Heart coach was unfazed about the streak, maintaining he was concentrating solely on his team’s performances.
“The most important thing for us is improving our game and if we do that, we’ll have an away win somewhere on the road,” he said.
“Of course, if we can win, we’ll grab it, but it’s again working on our game plan, working on the way we want to improve our way of playing.
“We know Wellington is a team in form, they’re playing good football. They have an experienced coach and some good players so we have to prepare ourselves well for that.”
Having been praised for turning the fortunes of the team around, the caretaker coach remained coy when asked whether he was to credit for Heart’s improvement in recent weeks.
“Before I came there were a lot of games that the boys were on top and close but were not having luck and I think we changed some things, we changed some players, we got some players back [from injury], we play a little bit different,” he said.
“All those things together could have been a consequence of having better results”.
However, he remained adamant criticisms of any team were justified based on their form.
“It’s normal if you don’t perform, then people have the right to say that you’re not good enough or you’re not performing well enough,” he said.
When quizzed about his squad for the trip to Wellington, the Dutchman confirmed that Orlando Engellaar will be back in the team this week after serving a suspension, and that Kewell will miss around 10 days with a foot injury, likely ruling him out for two games.
But he said he was confident that the players stepping in for Kewell would put in a good shift.
“Looking at the squad, we’ve seen that players coming in are doing exceptionally well,” he said.
“That’s only very positive, that if we have to replace a player, or if a player is not in form, we have players now… that can step in and give the team good help.”