Berisha boosts winless Victory

MELBOURNE Victory have never earned fewer points to start an A-League season but coach Kevin Muscat insists the poor record won’t be an albatross around the neck of his players.

Last year’s grand finalists will host ninth-placed Brisbane Roar at Etihad Stadium tonight in a clash between two sides yet to take three points.

With three draws and two losses to their name, the seventh-placed Victory have looked a long way off their best.

Ace striker Besart Berisha missed their past two games through suspension while James Troisi, Mark Milligan and Kosta Barbarouses are all on international duty.

But Muscat says a lack of confidence isn’t an issue for his side, which showed spirit to claim a 1-1 draw against Western Sydney on Monday night after being reduced to 10 men.

“It becomes a concern if you lose confidence,” Muscat said.

“If you were there on Monday night and you thought you’d seen a team that lacked confidence, we’re going to disagree. “It certainly wasn’t the case. “In fact, the response from the 21-odd thousand members and fans that were there indicated to me that they’d seen a group certainly not lacking in confidence.”

The return of Berisha, the A-League’s record goal scorer, should help to mitigate the absence of Socceroos duo Troisi and Milligan, New Zealand’s Barbarouses and the suspended Mitch Austin.

Brisbane will also field a depleted side missing Michael Theo (finger), Luke DeVere (knee) and Corey Brown (hamstring).