Star forward Lisa De Vanna may be pleased with Melbourne Victory’s run of form (securing their sixth win in seven attempts), but knows there’s no room for complacency as her side prepares for finals football.
Victory remain top of the table for another week after their hard-fought 2-1 win over Canberra United, with De Vanna happy with the team’s ability to match up against fellow title contenders.
“We just beat a team that is potentially going to make the finals, that was their full squad,” De Vanna said.
“We might be on top at the moment but it is still a tight league.
“We can’t talk about finals just yet but the way we’re going we haven’t lost since our first game so it’s definitely a nice confidence boost for the team.”
De Vanna struck her fourth goal of the campaign to open the scoring for the home side, a crucial moment in the scheme of the match.
The forward was pleased to contribute to the team, and was also happy to see others in the forward line contributing to Victory’s cause.
“As a striker it’s nice to do your job and score a goal but to create chances is just as important,” she said.
“From my perspective because I’m so quick it’s hard to work with other strikers not just here but anywhere in the world.
“But it’s getting better, Caitlin’s scoring goals every game now so she’s doing her job and that’s what we want from her, and Enza’s a gun who just gets up and down so that’s all you can ask from players, is just being persistent and consistent now.”
De Vanna hopes the good form will continue against Western Sydney Wanderers, who they beat 2-0 a couple of weeks ago.
Despite the Wanderers barely escaping with a draw against Adelaide this week, De Vanna knows that the match on Sunday will still be a very tough assignment.
“They’re getting a couple of their key players back so that will be a real challenge for us,” she said.
“Whether it’s away or home I think we’re just confident as we go.
“We’ve got a couple of key players like Jess Fishlock and Katie Hoyle -they’re just so strong in the midfield and have kept this team together.
“I think nothing’s going to change.”
Looking ahead to the finals, De Vanna hopes that Victory have their best football ahead of them.
She knows that if they do make it, the pressures surrounding matches of that magnitude will pose a challenge of its own.
“I hope that we’re not peaking too soon!” she said.
“With football when you’re not peaking you want to win and we have done that – we haven’t played our best football and got the result.
“So I hope by the time we make the finals that we still have the consistency, because you always get the semi-final, final nerves, you lose game because you’re unsure.
“Hopefully we keep winning, and just keep winning and get the results, and the trophy in February.”