Jim looks for Roar positives

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Coach Jim Magilton believes positive and disciplined football are key to Melbourne Victory ending a four-match winless streak against champions Brisbane Roar on Saturday and putting forward a strong case for inclusion in the top six.

Coach Jim Magilton believes positive and disciplined football are key to Melbourne Victory ending a four-match winless streak against champions Brisbane Roar on Saturday and putting forward a strong case for inclusion in the top six.

Last week’s 2-1 win over Central Coast was arguably the club’s most significant of the season and they are striving for back-to-back wins for the first time this campaign against the Roar at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.

Victory haven’t beaten the Roar since that memorable 3-0 win at AAMI Park early last season, a result which proved Ange Postecoglou’s side’s only loss of the campaign, and Magilton knows it will be a hard task getting a desperately needed win at Suncorp, where his side haven’t won since 2009.

“They (the Roar) go into every game believing they can win the game”, he said. “They’ve got a system of play which suits the players and they’ve been excellent all year.”

“Their ball retention is very good. They’ve got good rotation with good players,” he said.

However, after last week’s win Magilton has the faith his players can get the job done, as long as they concentrate on the fundamentals of good football, which include keeping the ball and playing positive.

“I believe we’ve good players. I believe the players we brought into the football club are good players and I believe we are starting to get the rewards for everything we do on the training ground,” he said.

“Our performance (last week) was good and our ball retention was good and we are going to have to be that good again. Because if we give the ball away we mightn-t see it for a while.”

“It’s important that we maintain possession of the ball. We’ve got good enough players who can do that. It’s important that we go out there positive believing we can win the game.”

Magilton said the entire group had lifted after the win last week pulled them within touching distance of the top six, but that would only be of so much use by the time Saturday rolled around.

“Winning football games gives people confidence and there has been a change. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday take care of themselves, but your pay day is Saturday,” he said.

“They are getting switched on for the game and they recognise that this is a big game for us. There are very few games left, so we know the importance of each game. This is the most important one because it is the next one.”

Magilton said Archie Thompson’s fitness will be tested ahead of Saturday’s match after he experienced hamstring tightness earlier in the week.