Melbourne Victory assistant coach Kevin Muscat has declared Harry Kewell a definite starter for Saturday night’s clash with bitter rivals Adelaide United at Etihad Stadium.
Melbourne Victory assistant coach Kevin Muscat has declared Harry Kewell a definite starter for Saturday night’s clash with bitter rivals Adelaide United at Etihad Stadium.
According to Muscat, Kewell was rested from the Victory’s midweek fixture against LA Galaxy to keep him primed to take on the Reds.
“Everyone wanted to play and Harry was no different, but there was three or four in a group that we decided it would be best if they don’t play,” Muscat said ahead of training at Etihad Stadium on Friday morning.
“Harry wasn’t isolated, there were three or four others, but it just seems that everyone wants to ask why he wasn’t playing.”
“It was great to have the Galaxy here, but [Adelaide] is the most important game for us this week.”
While Muscat conceded the club’s preparation has been disrupted, he said the players who took the field on Tuesday have pulled up well and those who were rested are jumping out of their skins.
Muscat said the Victory have been playing better than last week’s 3-1 loss to Newcastle Jets suggests.
“I’m not going to look for excuses, but I don’t think the scoreline told the true story of the game, but the reality is we got beat,” Muscat said.
“We had an opportunity to go on and win that game and we didn’t.”
“We’ve learned a few things from that game.”
“The last two performances have been relatively good and it’s about consolidating and turning performances into results now because we’re a third of the way through the season and it’s imperative that we start picking up points.”
Muscat said he’s expecting United to rebound strongly from last week’s 4-0 humiliation against Central Coast.
“It’s our biggest game so far because it’s the next one,” said Muscat.
“Three points is vital, but not only for ourselves.”
“If you look at the cluster of teams in and around ourselves, two or three wins on the bounce could really set up your season and we want that bounce of two or three wins to start now.”
