- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat has urged his troops to be more positive on Friday when they play away to a Newcastle side coming off back-to-back A-League losses.
Only one point separates fourth-placed Victory from Newcastle in sixth, but neither club is in great form heading into the Hunter Stadium clash.
Victory were thumped 3-0 at home by runaway leader Brisbane last week, while Newcastle’s last two starts resulted in 1-0 losses to Perth and Adelaide, who are both below them on the ladder.
Muscat said Newcastle wasn’t an easy place to win, but stressed the importance of his team going in with the right attitude.
“This week from our perspective is about being positive,” Muscat said.
“I felt the lessons learnt from last week, that when we stop being positive, we stop playing the way we want to play and we weren’t in the game.
“The challenge for us this week is to go there and have a go at Newcastle and play a brand of football that gives us an opportunity to bring three points home.”
Newcastle have beaten Brisbane home and away and won at Victory, but have lost their last two home games.
“We’re only two points from third, so it’s definitely not do or die, but it’s one that we definitely want to win,” Jets defender Taylor Regan said.
“It’s very tight for the finals positions, but there’s still a lot of the season to go, but a good team doesn’t lose three in a row.”
Regan was adamant the Jets confidence hadn’t been dented by the back-to-back losses.
“It was more of a reality check than anything,” Regan said.
“We’ve got a young squad, we knew there would be a little bit of inconsistency.”
Melbourne star Mark Milligan looks unlikely to play after failing to complete training on Thursday, but striker Archie Thompson is set to return from injury.
“He’s missed five games, but he’s starting to train really well this week, so he’ll certainly be involved in the game,” Muscat said.
Regan described Thompson as a massive threat, but cautioned against singling out the Socceroos veteran.
“Mitch Nichols, James Troisi, Kosta Barbarouses, Guilherme Finkler, they’ve got weapons all over the park,” Regan said.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.