Revenge is the word hot on the fans lips, but for Kevin Muscat and his Melbourne Victory side, the focus is solely on this week’s clash against Sydney FC.
The last time the Victory played the Sky Blues, they were on the receiving end of a 5-0 humbling, something which the head coach believes shouldn’t be a factor in Saturday night’s match.
“There’s no real point [in thinking about the loss] to be honest,” Muscat said referencing his side’s last outing against Sydney.
“I think we’ve come on leaps and bounds in terms of the way we go about things.
“Probably the last two performances, in terms of the way we defend games now and show a real resilience not to concede is a far cry from that day.”
Melbourne have looked particularly impressive at the back in recent weeks, conceding just the two goals in their last three matches.
That defensive form will have to continue if they are to avoid a second straight thrashing at the hands of their northern rivals, which would no doubt be music to the supporters ears.
“The one thing that I can remember from the whole night was leaving the stadium and feeling how badly we let the fans down,” Muscat said.
“Having said that our fans come down with an expectation every week. It’s our last home game and it’s a game that both teams will be desperate to take three points for different reasons.
“From our perspective it’s a game we really want to send a clear message with a performance that’s fitting of taking three points.”
The return and subsequent form of centre-back Adrian Leijer has been a boost for the Victory back four, as will the return of Adama Traore who has been labelled a “certainty” to play in tomorrow nights blockbuster.
Pablo Contreras may miss again this week, as will Nick Ansell, with Muscat outlining Mark Milligan as a potential replacement for that centre-back position, one in which he’s been used sparingly throughout his Victory career to date.
“We’ve had the last couple of days to do some tactical stuff and again we’re still looking at a few other things,” he said.
“Pablo has been struggling a little bit, obviously not being available last week so I wanted to make sure we’ve got some options if he’s not good or if he does start and can’t end the game.”
Melbourne Victory will be looking to bounce back to winning ways against a Sydney FC outfit who themselves have everything to play for. Kick-off at AAMI Park is scheduled for 7:30pm on Saturday night.