Melbourne Victory W-League coach Dave Edmondson is sure that his side are confident ahead of their semi-final against Sydney FC on Sunday afternoon, especially after the impressive outing at Allianz Stadium back in December.
Two consecutive 1-0 losses to Perth Glory and Brisbane Roar have meant that the Victory have had to travel for their semi final clash, and despite the drop in results, Edmondson is looking forward to the challenge this weekend.
“We’re playing well, we’re creating chances and we’re not really conceding many scoring opportunities, but we’re just not putting the ball in the back of the net,” Edmondson said.
“The last two weeks we’ve had enough chances to win each game by two or three.
“There’s no fear involved and there’s plenty of respect for the other three teams in finals alongside us.
“We’re confident that we can go and beat anybody if we put things right, play our game and put the chances away that we’ve created.”
Victory have had a mixed set of results against Sydney FC this season, being thrashed 5-1 at home in the opening round, then only grabbing a point in away in Sydney despite dominating the contest.
Edmondson feels that the way they played in that game has given them the necessary confidence boost ahead of the semi final, and is sure that his team will be able to give them a real contest.
“I think that the last performance against Sydney away from home definitely gave us belief,” he said.
“We dominated that game, but didn’t capitalise on it and let them back into it.
“The morale’s alright and the girls are confident.”
With a spot in the Grand Final at stake, Edmondson will need his best line-up on hand in order to have the best chance possible of beating Sydney.
Lisa De Vanna was not able to start against Brisbane last week, while Emma Checker is still nursing a minor knee injury, but the coach is confident that both will be fit to start.
“We brought Emma [Checker] off at the end [against Brisbane Roar],” he said.
“She got a bit of a knock on the same knee she injured a few weeks ago, but we took her off just as a precaution.
“Lisa [De Vanna] wasn’t 100 per cent to start, but she came on and did OK for us.
“At this stage of the season it’s just managing the bumps, bruises and knocks, but touch wood I’m able to pick from a full squad this week.”