Neither a sense of occasion nor the fact that their season is threatening to come to a screaming halt will allow Melbourne Heart to treat Saturday’s derby against Victory as anything other than an opportunity to get a badly needed three points.
The stats are stacking up against the Hyundai A-League new boys having picked up just one point from their past six games and having not scored a goal in 529 minutes. They have slipped out of the top six and need a win against their cross-town rivals to get back in touch with the finals race.
But having defeated Victory 2-1 in their first encounter, there is no sense of urgency or extra ambition to prove themselves on Saturday night, just a desire to get the job done.
“It-s the same feeling as I had a couple of nights ago,” captain Simon Colosimo, who missed the inaugural derby through injury, said of the build up.
“There’s no doubt it’s a great to be able to play in a Melbourne derby but the number one priority is to go out there and get three points.”
“I know that you are going to say that I’m playing down what it is and the spectacle it is. At the end of the day, we are out there to pick up three points and whether that be against Victory, North Queensland, Brisbane whoever.”
Colosimo said the club is not panicking about the run of poor form. He acknowledged that they have slipped, but with ten matches to go, can still make a considerable impression on the season.
“We’re in touching distance of the top six. We’re not worried about top four. At the end of the day we are going into tomorrow night’s game like we went into the first game of the season. The first game of the season, wherever we were alphabetically, that’s where we are,” he said.
“We are not lagging so far behind the six that it’s untouchable. We know that we are playing well. We are creating lots of chances, the stats will tell you that, but that necessarily put the points on the board.”
Coach John van ‘t Schip is also wary about putting too much emphasis on the result of Saturday’s match.
“If we lose this game, it will be a big disappointment. We need a win. The best medicine is getting three points and it doesn’t matter against who,” he said.
“If we don-t win, we still have nine games to play and that’s what we have to concentrate on then. We are not thinking about that. We want to play well, we have a good squad and I’m full of confidence and trust that we are going to have a good game.”
Midfielder Josip Skoko is out injured, while Wayne Srhoj and John Aloisi are certain to return.
