Adelaide United star Cassio is looking to finally grab the three points against Melbourne after nine consecutive losses for the South Australian side.
But as United prepare to take on Melbourne Victory at Etihad Stadium on Friday night, Cassio is committed to overturning nine consecutive losses against the Reds’ fiercest rivals.
The Reds haven’t beaten the Victory since October 2007 when United won 4-1 at Hindmarsh Stadium.
The Victory’s two grand final wins have both come against United, including a 6-0 demolition in the 2006-07 season where Archie Thompson bagged five goals.
Cassio acknowledges the Reds are in for a tough game but said three years without a win against the Victory is too long and it’s high time to stop Melbourne’s dominance.
“Of course it will be a hard game, we know that, but we have to do everything we can to win this game,” Cassio declared.
“It means a lot, we have to give everything we have got on Friday to win this game, the fans need that, we have to do more for them because it’s more than three years without a win against them, it’s a lot and we can’t accept that.”
The pocket rocket conceded the Victory may have a psychological advantage over the Reds after nine consecutive wins, but admitted confidence is sky high in the United camp after their unbeaten start to the campaign.
Cassio acknowledged the belief within the squad is like never before, adding the Reds’ team spirit means the Brazilian is confident of victory against Melbourne.
“When they play against us now they are pretty confident because they have won nine games in a row,” he said.
“And I think they are pretty comfortable when they play against us so we have to turn that around and we have to press up from the first whistle and try to win all 50-50 duels and show them that we want to win this game.”
“It doesn’t matter if you play away, we will play there and go for a win, we don’t want a draw and this is how our spirit will have to be and all our players have got it in our mind to win this game.”
“The mentality changed a few weeks ago and is totally different to last year and I think if we put in how we have been playing in the last few games, I think we can get a result.”
The 30 year-old remains weary of Melbourne’s talismanic captain, Kevin Muscat, admitting the Victory’s performance often depends on their skipper’s influence.
Cassio said the Reds won’t be paying any extra attention to Muscat, though, and instead will be focussing on just taking maximum points.
“First, he’s a good player and, second, he’s good for his team,” he said.
“But personally, I think it’s no problem for us, he plays his own game and helps his team. We have to just worry about ourselves and play football and try to win the game.”
