Melbourne Victory fullback Scott Galloway is looking forward to his first outing in the AFC Champions League on Saturday night, having won back his spot in the starting line-up in the last couple of weeks.
The Victory face Thai Premier League runners-up Muangthong United at Simmonds Stadium in Geelong, and Galloway is excited to have his first taste of continental football despite not knowing much about his opponents.
“I don’t exactly know too much [about them] yet but we’re going to start doing videos sessions on them,” Galloway said.
“I can tell you- anyone that’s made it this far, one game away from making the Champions League group, they’re going to be a good team.
“I’ve watched it on the TV before I was playing in the A-League so it’s hard to say what to expect because you don’t know, you’ve never played in it before, but the boys have given me confidence and they’re building confidence around everyone else.”
It was a tough start to the season for Galloway, losing his starting berth to fellow youngster Jason Geria at the start of the season and only making fleeting appearances off the bench.
But since returning from international duty in Oman, he has be reinstated into the first eleven and Galloway is keen to keep things that way.
“I was fairly happy with my game on the weekend,” he said.
“There are still a few things I have to improve on – every mistake I was not happy with.
“I want to try and be as perfect as you can be even though it’s near enough impossible but you try your best to do your best every week.
“I just look to go out [every week] and do the best that I can and [I’m] just happy enough that I kept getting picked each week.
“It’s up to the boss to choose who plays and who doesn’t and you just have to accept that.”
One man that will be missing is Gui Finkler, who is the unlucky one of the four foreigners at the club to be omitted from the squad.
But the arrival of Tom Rogic has softened the blow of not having the Brazilian playmaker in the squad, and Galloway is delighted that the Celtic loanee has joined the Victory for the rest of the season.
“Tommy’s a fantastic player, I’ve loved having him in,” he said.
“He’s just a great guy to have around and he’s just a top player but he’s definitely adding to the team, adding something else and he’s definitely a player that can take us far as well.”
Going far into the competition is something that motivates Galloway, and with the potential of facing Chinese powerhouse Guangzhou Evergrande, 2006 champions Jeonbuk Motors and J-League runners-up Yokohama F. Marinos, there is a big challenge to look forward to in the next stage.
But rather than think ahead to what could be, Galloway remains patient and insists all the attention from him and the club is focussed on the weekend’s fixture.
“[Getting to the group stage] would mean everything. It’s what we want,” he said.
“It’s the top competition you want to get into. Every A-League team strives to make the Champions League so we’re pushing to get into it and go as far as we can in it.
“Everyone knows exactly how important this game is for us.
“We’re one game away from going into the Champions League with Asia’s best. Everyone’s focused, concentrating on winning this one game to set us up for the group stage.”