Pressure’s on for ‘desperate’ Wanderers
MELBOURNE Victory are expecting a desperate Western Sydney Wanderers to front for their A-League clash tomorrow night, with their spot in the top six on shaky ground.
Currently holding down that last spot with three rounds to play, Wanderers are in danger of missing the play-offs, with Victory coach Kevin Muscat more than happy to help send them packing from AAMI Park.
They boast a formidable re- cord against Western Sydney, unbeaten in their past seven meetings dating back to early 2016, and have conceded just two goals in that time.
“They are a desperate team, wanting to get a result,” Muscat said.
“They were here in Melbourne last week and didn’t get a result and we’re looking to apply as much pressure as possible for our own reasons and understanding their situation.
“It will be a difficult game for a number of reasons — it’s almost a must-win for them so we’ll prepare for that and get on the front foot early and add to their woes by putting them under pressure.”
While the Wanderers were dusted by third-placed Melbourne City last round, Victory slipped to fourth with a 1-0 loss to Perth, which was their first defeat in five games.
Muscat said there was still a lot to like about his team’s per- formance, with the goal against the run of play before Glory shut up shop in the second half.
“They defended desperately and deeply and frustrated us and we couldn’t get that breakthrough goal that would have propelled us to go on,” he said.
“It wasn’t a terrible performance, but there were some areas that we could have done better at.”
Victory travels to South Korea on Monday where on Wednesday it will take on Ulsan Hyundai with a Champions League knock-out berth on the line.
Rhys Williams is suspended for the Ulsan game, while Argentine midfielder Matias Sanchez is not in the ACL squad, with Muscat saying he would make a decision after training on whether to rest his captain Carl Valeri from the A-League match.
“Carl was very good for us in Perth,” Muscat said.