Western Sydney goalkeeper Daniel Margush believes new coach Mark Rudan has had an immediate positive impact on the A-League Men’s club.
Margush was picked ahead of Spanish import Tomas Mejias for his first start of the season in the midweek 2-0 win over Melbourne Victory.
That success was the second in three matches under Rudan following the departure of Carl Robinson, putting the Wanderers just three points outside the finals positions.
After starting 26 matches last season, Margush had to settle for a backup role following Mejias’s arrival this season but the position appears now to be the 24-year-old’s to lose with Rudan making it clear he made the goalkeeping change on form.
“I wasn’t happy with the performance in the last game from my goalkeeper so I gave somebody else a chance,” Rudan said about overlooking Mejias.
Having kept a clean sheet upon his return, Margush is eager to get a run of games under his belt, starting with Sunday’s clash with high-flying Western United at AAMI Park.
John Aloisi’s team inflicted the sole defeat thus far of Rudan’s reign with a 1-0 win at Commbank Stadium on February 5 but Margush expects the Wanderers to be better prepared for the return clash.
“I’m really enjoying it,” Margush said about life under Rudan.
“It’s very structured and disciplined which is, I guess, the way I like things and the way I try to implement my game as well.
“The boys are really enjoying working under him and we’re excited to see what we can do for the remainder of the season.”
Tate Russell, Ziggy Gordon and Phillip Cancar, who marked his starting debut for the Wanderers with an assist, are three other players who barely featured under Robinson who played key roles in Wednesday’s triumph over Victory.
Western coach Aloisi said he expects Sunday’s game to be a stiffer challenge than when the two teams met earlier this month.
“It’ll be a bit of change to the way we played against them last time, I expect it to be very similar to the way they played against Victory,” Aloisi said.
“I thought they did really well. I’m not sure if he’s going to make too many personnel changes but the players that played did well … we know that it’ll be tough, no matter what.”
