The Melbourne Heart resurgence hit a remarkable peak as they toppled Wellington 5-0 last week, but this rounds match against table toppers Brisbane Roar looms as their biggest test yet.
The Heart broke their travel hoodoo in fine fashion last week after a David Williams hat-trick guided his side to the unexpected thrashing, their first away from home since 2011 (Not including their ‘away’ win against Melbourne Victory last season).
Tomorrow’s match against Brisbane Roar sees John van ‘t Schip’s troops tackle a team in a rather rare barren patch but the Heart coach still sees plenty to respect about the team from up north.
“You’re not going to stop [Brisbane] because they have their way of playing,” he said.
“You have to try to make it difficult for them and they will have their moments for sure, because it’s a team that can outplay almost every opponent in the league.
“We just have to approach the game against Brisbane very concentrated because they are the best playing team in the league and they can really make it difficult for any opponent when they have the ball.”
The match against Brisbane launches a cavalcade of home matches for Melbourne Heart, who face a run of four games out of five at AAMI Park.
With their ‘home’ match against Perth Glory two weeks ago being played at Albury, one would be forgiven if they thought Heart were now suddenly more comfortable playing away from home.
The head coach however doesn’t see any reason why his side shouldn’t maintain their motivation as they shift back to their home ground.
“Every game is important and so we don’t approach [a run of home games] in that way,” van ‘t Schip said.
“We know that we’re continuing on working and getting better and I know we’ll not always have the game go the way it went on Sunday [against Wellington] but we also showed that when we have problems and difficulties that we can overcome.
“In the games before we came back from behind, so I think the quality and the character of the team is very good at the moment.”
Last weeks win made it 13 points out of 15 for the Heart, who now sit an acquirable seven points off a spot in the top six.
van ‘t Schip admitted even he didn’t see the remarkable turnaround in form coming, but stated whilst the players and fans should be happy about their recent results, the job isn’t done quite yet.
“The fans I think should enjoy and be happy about what’s going on, and we should as well,” he said.
“As I said, every game is different. We have to be concentrated, start all over again.
“If you start bad against Brisbane and we play a poor game then it has consequences for the next game so you have to be very careful with starting to dream because that’s not the case.
“We’re still at the bottom of the table, we still have a long road to go to get close to even the play-offs and our first goal is to close the gap and play good football.”
In team news, Harry Kewell is expected to miss again with a toe injury with the only other omission that of the suspended Robbie Wielaert.
Melbourne Heart will look to extend their unbeaten run to six games as they clash with Brisbane Roar at AAMI Park. Kick-off for tomorrow’s match is scheduled for 5:00pm.