Swede glad to steal spotlight
OLA Toivonen revealed he has enjoyed stealing some of the headlines from Keisuke Honda so soon after his injury-delayed start to his Melbourne Victory career.
Toivonen produced his best display for Victory — in his first full 90 minutes for the club — in Saturday night’s 2-0 win over Adelaide United.
The striker had a big hand in the opening goal of Kosta Barbarouses before scoring the sealer. The goal was his second in four games since a calf injury and the Swede, 32, said he enjoyed making headlines with Japanese star Honda.
“It’s always good,” Toivonen said.
“Keisuke is important for us as well as Kosta and me, and Tezza (Terry Antonis) was before everyone else got going. So now we’ve got everyone in full speed.
“I feel strong. Of course some periods your legs are heavy, but that’s normal in a game. I’ve been working hard with (high-performance chief) Anthony (Crea) in the physical aspects. There was a lot of gym and calf raises because of my injury, so it’s been good.”
Defender Georg Niedermeier (ankle) is in doubt for Friday’s visit to Brisbane Roar.
“You can see the depth we have in the team at the moment,” Toivonen said. “We have a lot of injuries before the game. Now one more injury happened, but whoever comes in gives 100 per cent effort.”