Macarthur coach Ante Milicic is hoping COVID interruptions are a thing of the past as his red-hot side aim to keep their momentum rolling against Newcastle on Saturday.
After going five games without a win, the Bulls are looking to net their third win in a week when they hit the Hunter for the sides’ A-League Men’s encounter.
They smashed Adelaide 4-1 before grinding out a 1-0 win against Perth playing the last quarter-hour a man down, and Milicic said the rust accumulated through a number of postponements was finally starting to wear off.
“The last few games we sort of look like we’re heading in the right direction again, and we’ve gotten over that difficult period … delighted to have two wins in a row,” he told AAP.
“We’ve had an extremely challenging time with the amount of days away with COVID.
“We went up to 36 days without playing a competitive game and that’s a long time without football, then when you throw in COVID as well for 90 per cent of the of the playing group, it’s difficult to play your way back into form.”
Now they’ve found form, they sit third on the table and look one of the competition’s powerhouses, just five points back from top spot Western United.
They will miss defensive linchpin Aleksandar Susnjar through suspension and Jake McGing via injury, while they wait on the fitness of Aleksandar Jovanovic.
Milicic himself will be back on the touchline after missing the Perth victory with illness, when assistant Ivan Jolic deputised for him.
On Newcastle and their free-flowing style that has seen only their most recent game feature less than three goals, Milicic said watching film in preparation had been a pleasure.
“It’s really good to do an analysis of them … they play a very refreshing brand of football … it’s a nice style,” he said.
“Both teams are coming off Wednesday night games and the weather conditions in New South Wales also haven’t been great.
“But in the end, we’ll always focus on our service and we believe against any opponent that if we can execute our playing style we’re a good chance to put on a decent performance.”
Newcastle have alternated wins and losses through their last six outings but would take encouragement from Wednesday’s 1-0 win against Western Sydney, just their second clean sheet of the season.
