Mark Milligan will be aiming to lead his Melbourne Victory side towards their first A-League Grand Final in six seasons as they take on premiers Brisbane Roar on Sunday.
The Victory skipper has predicted a free flowing game, as both sides entertain the prospect of a place in the all-important decider next weekend.
“I think it’s going to be an open, attacking match,” Milligan said.
“The last time we played them, they had a great deal to play for with the Premiers Plate and I think this one both teams have equally as much to play for.
“Everything’s on the line, we don’t want our season to end this weekend and I guess neither do they so we’re just going to have to have faith in how we do things and that we’ll do them a little bit better than them this weekend.”
With Champions League qualification sewn up already for Brisbane, this rounds match looms as a make or break for the travelling team, with their hopes of playing in next seasons competition dependent on a win.
Milligan, who watched on as Melbourne bowed out of this seasons ACL on Tuesday, admitted it does provide a little extra motivation for his side this weekend.
“We said from the beginning that the Champions League is something that we want to be involved in and I guess if you want to look at it that way as a bit of an extra motivation,” he said.
“To be honest, it’s finals time; up at Suncorp against the champions this year, I don’t think the boys need too much more motivation to get up for that one.“
The prospect of facing Victory signing Besart Berisha is a further subplot to the match, but the Victory skipper admitted the defensive focus wouldn’t be on the clinical forward, rather on the way the Roar will likely set up as a team.
“[The focus won’t] not so much be just on him – we’ll spend again a lot of time on them as a unit, looking at how they do things, their patterns of play,” Milligan said.
“You play these teams quite a few times during the year, you generally have a good idea of the players you’re coming up against.
“We will have a good look but again I think it’ll be more about how we are defending as a unit rather than individual battles.”
Their defensive plight will no doubt be boosted by the returns of marquee defender Pablo Contreras as well as Milligan, who both sat out the clubs scoreless draw against ACL opponents Jeonbuk Motors on Tuesday.
Gui Finkler should also slot into the line-up despite some late fitness concerns, whilst Tom Rogic will again miss out altogether.
Melbourne Victory travel to premiers Brisbane Roar on Sunday for their Semi-Final decider. Kick-off is scheduled for 5:00pm at Suncorp Stadium.