Victory midfielder Billy Celeski believes his side must be more desperate if they are to arrest a worrying three-match losing streak in the Hyundai A-League this week against Sydney.
Melbourne was comfortably sitting on top of the ladder four weeks ago, but three successive losses to Wellington, Perth and Newcastle has seen the club drop down to third place, just one point clear of Central Coast and Wellington.
Sydney also finds itself in trouble, slipping down to sixth place, but a win this Saturday night at Telstra Dome would move it equal to Melbourne as they race for the top four intensifies.
Fresh after signing a new two-year deal with the club, Celeski admits that the team has been a bit flat and need to be more committed defensively if they are to get back on the winners list.
“I just put it down to us being a little flat, I don’t think we’ve been playing that badly to be honest, we could have gone a couple of goals up in each game and I think we just need to take our chances and that’s been the difference,” he said after training on Tuesday.
“I just think we might need to be a bit more desperate, defensively just closing down a little bit quicker and all that sort of stuff.”
There is no doubt that Melbourne’s rivalry with Sydney is one of the biggest in the Hyundai A-League, and Celeski is looking forward to the contest, especially given that it is at Telstra Dome and should draw a big crowd.
“It’s a big game, the Melbourne-Sydney derby, especially at home now, we’re looking to bounce back from our last three results too, so hopefully there’s plenty of attacking football and the crowd enjoys it.”
“We’ve been on the road for a little while now and we’re just looking forward to playing a few games at home in front of our home crowd.”
Football operations manager Gary Cole is expecting plenty of people to attend the ‘Arch Enemies’ match and is urging supporters to get out and show their support.
“I would think Melbourne Sydney brings in a minimum of 30,000 people,” he said.
“This is a traditional rivalry, they’ve been fantastic games in the past, there’s always a bit more at stake in addition to the three points, there’s bragging rights between Melbourne and Sydney.”
