Danny Allsopp has insisted Melbourne Victory have moved on quickly from last Sunday’s shock 3-2 loss in Perth and that the club’s focus is firmly on the crucial clash against Central Coast at Telstra Dome on Friday night.
Melbourne had build considerable momentum in the lead-up to the Perth match, winning three consecutive home matches. But the loss to the Glory threatens to derail Victory’s charge toward the finals and Allsopp believes the best way to deal with that is to just move on.
“Everyone takes responsibility for their part in the performance, we’ve moved on from that game and looking onto this week, but there is plenty of positives to look forward to,” he said.
Melbourne’s recent away record against those teams in the bottom four of the ladder must be a cause for concern for coach Ernie Merrick. Victory’s past four away matches have all resulted in defeats against teams outside the top four.
“It was a bad game for us, a bad result, and we’ve had few of them lately away from home, but we’ve done well away from home against the top sides,” he said.
“Playing against the other sides, we’ve been unfortunate to meet a lot of them on what has been a very good day for them. We’re still positive, we know that we’re in the finals now and we won’t be dwelling on how we’ve gone against sides that are on the bottom of the ladder,” he said.
Allsopp believes there is no greater motivation to switch focus forward then a home battle against a side like the Mariners who are currently fourth and yet to seal their spot in the finals.
“When we come here to Telstra Dome, you don’t need much motivation to go out and play when you have a top two spot to go out and secure and it’s a game we’re really looking forward to,” he said.
Lawrie McKinna has usually employed a high offside plan against Melbourne, giving plenty of space for Allsopp and Archie Thompson to run into on the counter attack.
Thompson has particularly relished playing against Central Coast scoring four goals in the past three clashes against the Mariners, while his big strike partner netted a brace in a 5-3 win at Bluetongue Stadium last year. But Allsopp said the high offside plan can be hard to play against as a striker, and he doesn’t expect the Mariners’ defence to make it easy for him.
“At times when we haven’t played well, the way that the Mariners shape up against us can be pretty tough. We have to make sure that we play well, and play the way we want to play to exploit their weaknesses,” he said.
“Some teams have played high offside and we haven’t killed them. Perth did that on the weekend and they made the most of it, it does make that tough for guys down the park because they have less time to play the pass.”
