Melbourne Victory midfielder Jimmy Jeggo is happy to be back amongst the first team reckoning with a few appearances and is also pleased with the new midfield role he has been entrusted with.
Jeggo has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the club’s hectic schedule as they battle it out on two fronts, in the A-League and the AFC Champions League.
While he has struggled for game time in the senior team this season, Jeggo has now made appearances in four of the past seven fixtures, and is relishing every moment.
“It’s great, I’m really enjoying being back in the team and helping the boys and getting some game time, and playing Champions League is a massive bonus,” Jeggo said.
“It’s a big competition and we play against some really good players so I’m really enjoying it.”
Yokohama proved to be another tough test for the Victory, but they managed to hold out on this occasion with the team keeping a clean sheet.
Jeggo was pleased with how the team fared, and recollected his assist to Kosta Barbarouses that made all the difference in the contest.
“It wasn’t too bad, we had to work hard and we didn’t have a lot of the ball and we had to be disciplined so I just focused on doing my job for the team,” he said.
“That’s something we work on day in and day out, when we win the ball in transition to hurt teams.
“Kosta made a perfect run and I just managed to thread it through to him and he finished it well.”
The role Jeggo played on Tuesday night, and indeed against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors on Matchday 2 has differed from those in the Victory’s typical structure of two holding midfield and two creative, attacking midfielders.
Kevin Muscat has been given him licence to roam in attack, but also defend as part of a midfield block to provide an extra body in defence to help ease the team’s transition from defence to attack.
Jeggo likes his new role, which he feels is well suited to his game, but doesn’t feel the change in tactic makes that much of a difference overall.
“It’s similar to the way we play and obviously Musky’s tweaked a few things defensively but the basics are there, it’s still the same structure and we’re still looking to do the same things,” he said.
“[It does suit me] a little bit. It’s more box to box and it allows me to get forward but also get back and help my team.”
With his contract expiring soon, Jeggo has yet to be offered a new deal.
But unlike earlier in the season, he now has a chance to prove himself worthy of a new deal on the pitch and is channelling his energy into making sure he puts his best foot forward.
“My contract’s coming up at the end of the season but there’s a lot of big games between now and then and I’m just focusing on those and focusing on helping the team as much as I can,” he said.
The club’s next fixture is away to Brisbane, and with another glut of fixtures coming in April, Jeggo will remain a key part in squad rotation as Muscat looks to keep his players fresh.