Melbourne City midfielder Neil Kilkenny could make his competitive debut in the Westfield FFA Cup next week, while he has backed Tim Cahill to help the club challenge for all trophies this season.
The impressive Kilkenny missed City’s FFA Cup Round of 32 win over Floreat Athena but is ready to play against Brisbane Strikers on August 24 if coach John van ‘t Schip picks him.
At training on Monday, Kilkenny was part of what appeared to be City’s first XI in a scratch match, with the former Preston North End, Bristol City and Leeds United midfielder lining up alongside Luke Brattan and Anthony Caceres in the middle.
When asked if he would be ready to play the Strikers, Kilkenny said: “I hope so, if selected. Obviously I had a little bit of an injury just after being here a couple of weeks, so I’m hoping I’ll be ready to go.”
City unveiled striker Tim Cahill on Monday, with the Socceroos forward joining the A-League club for the next two seasons.
Kilkenny, who played alongside Cahill at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, reckons Van ‘t Schip is building the type of squad that can end City’s A-League trophy drought.
“We want to go in and go for everything,” Kilkenny said.
“We’ve got a good squad here, we’ve got good players even before Timmy came in and he’s added to a long list of good players.”
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The 30-year-old added: “Hopefully [Cahill will] score many goals and obviously help the team win the league this season.”
Having played his entire professional career in England before joining City, Kilkenny also revealed what he was most looking forward to about playing in the A-League.
“Hopefully a bit more football being played instead of just a bit of a battle all the time; every third day in the Championship – Saturday, Tuesday – is more of a battle than a football game sometimes,” he said.
“So I’m really looking forward to experiencing the A-League.”
