Western Sydney coach Tony Popovic says his men never lost faith despite their scoreless drought, which ended with a stunning win over Brisbane.
Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic says his men never lost faith despite their scoreless drought, which ended with a stunning win over Hyundai A-League champions Brisbane on Saturday night.
The Wanderers failed to hit the back of the net in each of their first three games but looked in the mood right from the first whistle at Suncorp Stadium.
Their barren, 288-minute scoreless run ended when Mark Bridge nodded home a cross from impressive Dutch recruit Youssouf Hersi, which sealed a famous victory.
And while Bridge’s header spurred the new franchise on to finish the job against Brisbane, Popovic said the team’s belief never wavered.
“The stats don’t lie – we hadn’t scored,” he said.
“But there was no lack of confidence in this group. We just kept preparing and being focused for each game.
“It would have been injustice really, if we didn’t come away with those three points.
“We’ve been in all the matches without getting the win we deserved but today it was nice to see us get that win.
“We came here with a belief we could win the game if we played well, and in the end we did that. At no stage did we doubt ourselves.”
Popovic, however, was not about to get carried away with the result.
“It’s three very good points,” he said.
“Obviously there’s sentiment involved and it’s a historic one as well, because it’s our first ever win.
“But it is only three points. We have to build on this. They’re our first ever points as a club, first goal as a club – but that dressing room is relaxed, and they’re already preparing for next week.
“We feel we’ve been improving every day in training, every game we’re starting to put more minutes together where we’re playing the football that we want to play.
“That has to continue for us to be successful. There’s a long way to go but it’s a good start. Now it’s about backing up this performance. That’s our next challenge.”
Young striker Joey Gibbs was impressive up front for Western Sydney, in place of injured marksman Dino Kresinger (hip).
With the Croatian striker no certainty for Friday night’s encounter with Melbourne Heart, Gibbs more than put his hand up for an extended run in the starting side.
“We’ll have to assess him next week to see if he’s back or if it will take another week or two. It’s not a long-term problem,” Popovic said.
“(Gibbs) did great. I’m pleased with every player in our squad and he had a very good game today. And I’m sure he’ll have many games to come.
“On the given day, who we select to play is up to us. That could be next week but if it’s not, I’m sure he’ll keep improving.”
