Melbourne City captain Aziz Behich is steeling himself for another fiery Melbourne Derby this weekend and believes the current crop of youngsters within the squad have what it takes to cope with the pressure.
Both sides head into the game off the back of respective 1-0 victories in Round 20 with City defeating Perth Glory while Melbourne Victory knocked off Wellington Phoenix at AAMI Park.
Crucially for City, Socceroo Mathew Leckie played his first 90 minutes of the season against Glory in that 1-0 win while livewire winger Marco Tilio also made his first start since suffering a hamstring injury in Round 3, playing 74 minutes before being withdrawn.
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As such, Behich believes the fact those two key players are back fit and firing should now give his side plenty of confidence heading into the third Melbourne Derby of the campaign.
“It’s the third Derby of the year, so we know what’s expected but as a footballer these are the games you obviously want to be a part of,” said Behich on this week’s episode of Total A-Leagues.
“The crowd is going to be great, you know, we’re third and fourth on the ladder as well so (there’s) a lot at stake.
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“But look, the boys know what we need to do. I think last week, we put in a good performance against Perth and you know, even when I look back at the Adelaide game, especially first half, and the Macarthur game, you know, I think we played really well.
He continued: “But as the coach has been saying in his press conferences, it’s just that final touch in front of goal that we’ve been lacking.
“We’ve already analysed Victory, and we will continue to do that, but more so focused on ourselves and how we can improve.
“It’s obviously going to be a fiery Derby, I don’t expect anything less, especially on my part. But with a lot of young boys too, (it) could be their first experience as well.
“It’s great to have obviously Lecks (Leckie) back on the pitch and Tils (Tilio) and boys like that that know what’s at stake this week.”
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Despite recently enduring a three-game losing streak, City still sit fourth on the Isuzu UTE A-League ladder and one point behind rivals Victory in third, crucially though, with a game in hand.
For many, City’s form has been a big surprise this season especially when you factor in just how many injuries they’ve suffered.
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While Tilio and Leckie are now back after suffering respective hamstring problems, head coach Aurelio Vidmar has lost a plethora of senior players due to a variety of longer-term injuries including midfielders Andres Kuen (hamstring) and James Jeggo (achilles), winger Yonatan Cohen (knee) while Andrew Nabbout is out for the season after injuring his ACL.
One big positive for the City head coach though has been the impact some of the younger players have had on the side.
“It’s never nice not having the full strength squad, especially right from the beginning of the season. But you know, I think we’ve dealt with that pretty well,” said Behich when detailing their injury woes.
“A lot of these young boys have been with us since day one of pre-season, which has helped, and they know what the expectation is within the team and the club.
He continued: “They’ve had a really good start to their careers in the A-League but obviously we know they’re going to have the ups and downs as well which happened.
“We had a three week period where we didn’t get a win, which was obviously difficult and disappointing on our behalf, but it was good to bounce back with a win.”
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Of those to have caught they eye has been young creative midfielder Lawrence Wong.
Handed a three-year scholarship contract at the beginning of the campaign, 17-year-old Wong became the first Melbourne City player to have progressed through the entirety of the club’s academy system before debuting for the first team.
“Yeah, look, he’s improved a lot since pre-season,” said the Melbourne City skipper when discussing his young teammate.
“Definitely Wongy is one of them. He’s been here since day one with us, obviously still very young, 17-years-old. And look, he’s done a great job.
“Obviously, he’s got a lot of time ahead of him. Especially physically he needs to get better, but technically, (he’s) a great player. And that goes along with the other young boys that have that have also come in.
“You know, they’ve really put their foot forward and claimed their spot so it’s great to see. You know the academy here is great, a lot of boys coming through, but what those boys have done hasn’t really surprised me.
“Like I said, you know seeing them improve each day, and obviously being a long pre-season, I’m not surprised at all with the effort and the quality that they’ve put in so far.”
After losing the first meeting 3-1 between these two sides earlier in the season, City then drew 1-1 with their fiercest rivals back in December.
However, their failure to pick up maximum points in either of the two Melbourne Derby meetings so far this season means City are currently without a win in this fixture since 2023.
