New Melbourne City signing Josh Rose will potentially make his City debut at the ground he started his professional career 15 years ago.
City travel to Perry Park in Brisbane to take on the Brisbane Strikers in the Round of 16 of the Westfield FFA Cup and the club’s latest signing said it was an eerie feeling taking on the side that gave him his first opportunity as a senior player in Australia’s then top domestic league, the National Soccer League.
“It’s exciting to be heading back to Perry Park. That’s where it all began for me in the NSL a long time ago and it’s exciting to be able to go back there and play in the cup,” Rose said.
“I think it’s fantastic the cup system. Now that they are not part of the national league structure themselves, it gives these teams the chance to test themselves against A-League sides. It’s fantastic to see and it’s great for me to be able to be a part of that.
“It was my first NSL team so it was always going to be special to me. My wife has got a lot of family there and I’ve got family in Queesland so heading to Brisbane is always a good place to go and play for me.”
Rose’s transition to the Club has been swift and the former Mariner says he could not have had a better start to life as a City player with the potential to debut on Wednesday night alongside Neil Kilkenny and Tim Cahill.
“It’s been fantastic, everything has happened very quickly but all the boys here have made me feel like I’ve been here for five years already so they’re a great bunch of boys, they have really looked after me and helped me transition really well,” he said.
“We’ve all been working hard since we came in so we’ll see what happens tomorrow at training and go with that but things are going really well at the moment.
They’re (Kilkenny and Cahill) both really good professionals. They have been in the game for a long time so we’ll look after ourselves and with the coaching staff, they are getting us up to speed pretty quick.
Melbourne City take on Brisbane Strikers in the Round of 16 of the Westfield FFA Cup on Wednesday. See the match live on Fox Sports 505.
