New Melbourne City FC midfielder Luke Brattan is excited to make his first appearance at AAMI Park in City colours in Wednesday’s Westfield FFA Cup Quarter Final against Western Sydney Wanderers.
Brattan will be among a host of new off-season signings likely to debut at City’s home stadium in the knockout fixture and despite having played there previously as an opponent, the 26-year-old holding midfielder is itching to play in front of the new City faithful.
“I can’t wait for the season to start; I’ve fitted straight into the team, I think I’m pretty comfortable around the boys in the midfield and we have some fantastic talent this year, so I can’t wait,” Brattan said.
“AAMI Park is a great stadium. Playing against Melbourne City in the past I have always loved playing there, the fans are always great and hopefully they come out in numbers on Wednesday night.”
City has reached the Quarter Finals of the domestic cup competition via wins over Perth-based National Premier League (NPL) side Floreat Athena and Queensland NPL outfit Brisbane Strikers, with Brattan featuring in both matches.
With a test against a fellow A-League opponent looming, Brattan believes City will face its toughest test yet.
“I think it’s going to be our toughest test this pre-season and we’re taking the [FFA] Cup pretty seriously, so we definitely want to win the game and dominate, and play the way we want to play this season,” Brattan said.
“They [the Wanderers] have a few new good players and they were decent last year and they have always been a good club since they entered the [A-League].
“They’re going to be tough, but we’ll concentrate on ourselves and do the things we have been practicing all pre-season.
“[Playing against A-League opposition] is a lot different to playing against the local [NPL] sides, I sometimes think people underestimate the local teams; it’s very, very tough to play against them; they are up for it, they are at the end of their season, they’re all fit and they are always up for it against A-League opposition.
“But we’ve played two teams and we’ve beaten them, so this [Wednesday] will be a good test, it’s a completely different test and this is what we are professionals for; we want to play in these games and it’s definitely going to be a good game.”
“I know this year we have a different mentality and the coaches are ramming that into us; we want to kill off games and play the way we want to play.
“That’s started, we’ve done pretty well this pre-season, we’re extremely fit, all the boys are looking really sharp so the football has come along really well.”
With a big match looming, Brattan said he had felt comfortable since joining the club and has had little trouble fitting in at City.
“It’s a great club to be at; the facilities, the professionalism of the club; from the staff in the office to the staff out on the field, it’s one big family and that’s what I love about it.”
