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Melbourne City coach John van `t Schip hopes his side can continue to ride a wave of A-League confidence against Western Sydney Wanderers on Friday night.
Just three weeks ago City were beaten 3-2 by the Wanderers, with Nikita Rukavytsya’s injury time winner severely denting their finals hopes.
But van `t Schip’s side have surged since then, putting together three wins in a row for the first time in a year.
City have defeated Newcastle, Sydney and finals rivals Brisbane without conceding a goal, putting them in the box seat to reach their first finals campaign in three seasons.
Beat the Wanderers and City can sure up their lead over seventh-placed Brisbane, though van `t Schip warned it would not guarantee a finals berth.
“For sure? No, but it will help a lot,” he said.
The Dutchman said the team hadn’t looked back since their last trip to Pirtek Stadium.
“We won against Sydney who was the team in form,” he said.
“We showed that a difficult game like that, we can win and that should help the team.”
Van `t Schip said he’d meet with Socceroos midfielder Aaron Mooy in their Sydney hotel before deciding whether to throw him straight into the mix.
“I’ll have a chat, see how he feels and if Aaron feels OK for certain he will have a part,” he said.
Mooy’s inclusion would be handy against Tony Popovic’s side, which van `t Schip feels is having a late-season form surge.
“They’re dangerous going forward with (Kerem) Bulut (and Romeo) Castelen,” he said.
“They looked very dangerous and they’re playing more freely, probably because they know they’re not going to get into the finals.”
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