Melbourne Victory midfielder Billy Celeski admits there is a sense of the unknown going into Friday night’s inaugural derby against Melbourne Heart, but that the likelihood of having Kevin Muscat lead the side out will be a tremendous boost.
The scene is set for the first-ever actual Hyundai A-League derby with Heart hosting Victory in front of an expected full house of over 30,000 at AAMI Park. Celeski said there is a real sense of expectation among the Victory players, but also a feeling of not quite knowing what the new franchise will bring to the table.
“It-s a little bit unknown isn-t it? We are obviously going to prepare the way we always do with our own game-plan and go in and execute that,” he said.
“I’m sure they are going to be a tough team to play against. They’ve recruited well. They are still finding their feet and gelling as a team, they-ve got their own pressures to deal with being a new club. It-s going to be an interesting game and hopefully a good one.”
“It-s great now that it’s arrived. It-s going to be close to sold out, if not sold out and it’s great it will get a lot of publicity this week and hopefully both teams can put on a good show.
Victory have been boosted by the return to fitness of skipper Muscat, who has missed the past three matches with an ankle injury. Celeski said it wouldn’t have been the same to run out on the field without their skipper.
“That speaks volumes for itself. Musky is Melbourne Victory through and through. He’s such a great leader on the park and he brings a lot to our team so to have him back will be great,” he said.
Muscat’s absence hasn’t been felt in defence with Victory failing to concede a goal in the period he has been out. However, it is up the other end where the trouble is, with Victory having gone over 270 minutes without a goal.
Celeski believes the work done over the week’s break will see a much sharper attacking performance in this week’s derby.
“We’ve got players who can do it. These are the games where boys are going to have to step up and take that responsibility and score goals and create chances. We’re really looking forward to this one,” he said.
“We’re keeping the ball fairly well in midfield and creating chances moving the ball forward and trying to get Carlos (Hernandez) involved as much as possible. I think at times, you are not going to be able to create five, six or seven chances a game,”
“If you create two or three, we need to be good enough to put those chances away. We’ve addressed that, the players know and they-ve put their hands up, so we-re working hard on that.”
