‘We need to start picking up points’ – Victory signing Rojas eager to make an impact

Marco Rojas was satisfied to blow the cobwebs away on his Melbourne Victory return but admits his side have no time to spare in the Hyundai A-League.

After signing for Victory for the third time in January, New Zealand international Rojas replaced goalscorer Andrew Nabbout on 75 minutes as Victory saw an upset win slip out of their grasp in a 2-2 draw against Perth Glory at HBF Park.

Nick D’Agostino’s 90th-minute leveller was the Premiers’ second equaliser in added time, after Ola Toivonen’s opener was cancelled out by Bruno Fornaroli’s strike in first-half injury time.

Nabbout had scored the goal which put Carlos Salvachua’s side in position to halt their three-match Hyundai A-League losing streak but the late blow meant the visitors took only one point back to Victoria rather than three.

Rojas scored 27 goals in 75 games across two previous spells at Victory, between 2011-2013 and in 2016/17, while jet-setting around clubs in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Denmark.

The draw in Western Australia keeps Victory within five points of the top six, and the 28-year-old Kiwi admits time is now of the essence in their bid for a place in the Finals Series.

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“We’ve got a heavy schedule coming up, we need to start picking up points in this league,” Rojas said.

“We know that, and our focus is on doing that. We got close [on Saturday] but we’ll go again and see what we can do next week.”

Who is back? 😬 pic.twitter.com/jyQGFTEJxQ

— Melbourne Victory (@gomvfc) February 1, 2020

Victory are preparing for their third Melbourne Derby of the season against City next Friday, before their AFC Champions League campaign ramps up into the group stage over the coming weeks.

Salvachua’s team will need everybody firing in order to juggle their chase for the Hyundai A-League Finals Series with their Asian adventure and Rojas is determined to quickly build match fitness.

“It was nice to be back out there,” Rojas said.

“I was really excited to get going again, it’s been over a month since I played my last competitive game so it was nice to be out there.

“I’ll be fine, like I said I’ve come off a little off season, so I feel good.

“It’s just about getting the minutes and conditioning back into my legs, and I’ll be fine.