Melbourne Victory new acquisition Mitch Austin has claimed he can already feel an increase in training intensity at his new club after departing Central Coast Mariners last month.
Austin started training with Victory this week as the Hyundai A-League club prepare for their two International Champions Cup fixtures against Juventus and Atletico Madrid, which will be held at the end of July.
The powerful winger is looking forward to Victory coach Kevin Muscat “getting on my case” as he strives to improve.
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“It’s probably the intensity in training that I’ve found [different to the Mariners],” Austin told reporters on Friday.
“It’s a lot more quicker and sharper and everyone demands a lot more than what I was used to last year.
“And I think that’s only going to make me a better player and that’s one of the reasons I came.”
Despite having a year left on his contract at the Mariners, Austin pushed to leave Central Coast for Victory as part of his long-term plan to return to Europe.
“I had a good time at Central Coast,” he said.
“I just sort of felt that at my age I needed to get to one of the bigger clubs to test myself.”
Austin joined the Mariners before the 2015-16 season having played in England’s lower leagues since 2010.
At 25, he remains convinced he’s not “too old” to have another crack at playing overseas.
“Coming here to the A-League – all the games are on TV and that sort of thing – so I thought for myself that it was an important move to come back because I thought I could get myself out there with the media coverage it’s got,” Austin said.
Despite playing almost exclusively on the left for the Mariners, Austin insists he would relish the opportunity to replace Kosta Barbarouses as Muscat’s primary right winger next season.
For Austin, season 2016-17 is all about improvement.
“I scored five goals last year, so I’d like to probably beat that and get a couple more assists this year than I got last year,” he said.
