Gold Coast United goalkeeper Scott Higgins has acknowledged that the squad will start as the underdog when it faces an in-form North Queensland Fury for the second time on Saturday night.
Higgins has been given a chance to redeem himself after letting in five second half goals last weekend, with first choice keeper Jess Vanstrattan restricted to the stands with a back injury.
“There are no easy games in this league and the league is very tight, so this weekend we probably are the underdogs, which is a tag we haven’t had before but maybe this is a good thing for us,” Higgins said.
“The whole team as a squad were doing really well at the start of the season and we’ve just fallen away a bit recently but we’ve grinded out some results when we haven’t been great.”
“It (last week’s match) was obviously a bad day at the office for the boys … training this week has been really good, so we’re just buzzing for Saturday night.” He said.
United’s coach Miron Bleiberg is also fully aware that the men in yellow are facing a huge test of character to turn around last week’s humiliating defeat.
“When you cop it, it’s the same like a boxing match or any other sport, when you get beaten, you want to go straight away for the next one to take it out of your system,” Bleiberg said.
“For us, it’s more of a test of character than under normal circumstances, because when you lose 6-0 you have something to prove,”
“We are still finding our way, consistency isn’t the strongest part of us at the moment, sometimes we are high and sometimes we are low,”
“The pressure to win is for us like any other team desperate for three points…everybody realises that three points can take them four places forward or backwards.” He said.
Bleiberg has also urged fans to maintain belief in the club even after the drubbing at the hands of the Phoenix.
“I’m not in the marketing department, I’m in the football department and I think that who ever follows the Gold Coast should be proud despite the 6-0 loss,”
“I am proud of what we have done so far, I think people have to realise we are a new club… although we may have pretended that we are as good as anyone, people have to take it by measure.” He said.
