The Melbourne Victory camp is in unison in it’s plea for a win during the club’s landmark ten-year anniversary game with Adelaide United on Friday at AAMI Park.
It’s a big week for the boys in blue as they prepare for the milestone clash in which they will be sporting a special jersey marked with the names of the first 100 players to represent the Victory.
Captain Mark Milligan – one of those names – revealed that although Muscat’s men face a steep challenge, they will draw confidence from their recent run of results.
“I think for the players and for our fans this week, the game will be excellent,” the skipper said.
“[Adelaide] have been in very good form, we had a very good clash [away] in Adelaide and I think it’ll be much of the same this Friday night.
“At home we’ve been excellent and we’ll be looking to continue that – one thing that we know is Adelaide won’t change the way they do things when they come here this week.
“We can prepare and we can be ready and expect them to play their football – we know it’ll be a big challenge but we’re very confident in the way that we’ve been doing things that we’ll be able to run out the match and get a good result.”
The last time both sides met was in Round 2 at Adelaide Oval, where 33,000 fans attended the 1-1 stalemate, earned via a late Fahid Ben Khalfallah strike.
“At the end of the day we played out a 1-1 draw which is what it should have been [but] I think it’ll be a little bit easier on the eye this Friday night,” Milligan said.
“Hopefully we’ll see a lot of ball playing and hopefully see some goals and in the last few weeks we’ve kept back to back clean sheets which we take a lot of confidence in especially coming home again this Friday night in what we know is going to be a very tough match.”
Victory coach Kevin Muscat – a stalwart of the club – has spoken out about what the 10 year anniversary means to both himself and the current playing staff.
“We look back fondly at the last 10 years and we pay respect to the history of the football club, but it’s certainly about effecting what happens here on in and effectively making history for years to come,” Muscat said.
“It’s been a great ride considering where we came from, outgrowing [Olympic Park] very quickly to playing in a purpose built stadium, playing in front of 50,000 plus crowds.
“We’ve certainly come a long way and it’s important to pay respect to our past – but the challenge for the current group is to be a part of what’s ahead.”
Hinting at the two Grand Final’s won against Adelaide, Muscat has forewarned a “big occasion” is brewing for tomorrow nights clash.
“It’s fitting that we come against Adelaide. Some of our greatest moments have been in games against them. They’re in very good form and they’re a good team, make no mistake about that. We’ve prepared well this week and I can sense a big occasion coming.”
Melbourne Victory take on Adelaide United tomorrow night in a blockbuster Friday night clash. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:40pm at AAMI Park.