Dandenong City coach Ivan Duzel has praised the resolute performance from the back that set up a gutsy scoreless draw against Box Hill United, despite being struck down with a number of injuries.
With striker Goran Jozeljic going down before 30 minutes had elapsed as well as injuries to Steven Topalovic and replacement Graham Hill – which left City fighting with 10 men in the dying moments – they managed to hang on for a well deserved point, and Duzel believes the rearguard performance can work as a base for the future.
“We’ve had five or six injuries and some of the players that played are not 100% so we had to put them in because I [needed] the quality in the team to compete today,” Duzel said post-game.
“From a defensive point of view, we tried very hard to defend and get a clean sheet. We created a couple of very good chances to get a goal and today that’s what I wanted to do.
“The draw was a fair result for me and I believe that – for a start – we have a clean sheet for the year that could be the one that we [build on] from here and every step get better and better week-by-week.
“Today from what I saw in the changing rooms after the game they were very pleased, very happy. So I believe from today we should build on this a little bit more, get clean sheets and build confidence and desire and a better belief in our play.”
Despite his depleted squad, Duzel was confident that his side were the more likely to have taken the three points, but is more than happy with the point.
“When you look at our chances I think we had better chances than them. They only had one real clear chance in the last minute but in the end of the day when you lose all these players you have to be satisfied with the draw,” he said.
“Draw, clean sheet for the first time all year, you please the club, you please the players, you please me. We have to stick together and build a team for the future.”
As for those players that went down in the bruising clash, the head coach shed some light on how his troops were going, with Jozeljic coming off the worst of the bunch after an errant elbow left the forward with a suspected broken nose.
“From what I heard at half-time, it was a very bad broken nose. That was a very bad tackle anyway at the end of the day. Didn’t have a chance at [winning] the ball,” Duzel said.
“Unfortunately things happen in the game and I’m very sorry for him, a young player at 24 years old. I believe for him, who knows, it could be season over. We’ll see what they say at the hospital.
“Steven Topalovic had his groin problem so I had to take him off because the problem has come back again. Young Graham [Hill] was a hamstring so the last five or six minutes we played without 11 men.”