Melbourne Victory coach Ernie Merrick believes his players can turn the disappointment of Sunday’s loss to Sydney into a determined performance against the Sky Blues on Thursday night at Etihad Stadium.
Melbourne Victory coach Ernie Merrick believes his players can turn the disappointment of Sunday’s loss to Sydney into a determined performance against the Sky Blues on Thursday night at Etihad Stadium.
Sydney defeated Melbourne 2-0 to claim the Premiers’ Plate by a point at the SFS on Sunday in a dramatic finale to the premiership race. While shattered with the fact they had given up the title on the final day of the season, Merrick said the players were determined to atone by winning the championship.
“There is a disappointment in the dressing room but there is also a determination to bounce back from this,” he said.
“Our players don’t feel as though we were outplayed tonight. We were outscored but we weren’t outplayed.”
“I think the boys played some great football without finishing it off.”
Merrick said that he was confident his side could turn around things in the four days ahead of the first leg of the major semi-final.
“It would concern me if we weren’t creating the goal scoring opportunities but we are. We’re creating really good opportunities,” he said.
“I don’t feel like we’re playing bad football against them but we have to start scoring goals against them.”
The club will find out on Monday what the extent of Robbie Kruse’s leg injury is, but the initial fears is that he has broken his fibula.
“The first impression is that he has a broken leg,” Merrick said.
“You never know. We’re guessing it’s the fibula, which is non weight-bearing. We’ll take him back to Melbourne and x-ray it and if it turns out to be a break then he’s out for a few weeks. If it’s not a break, you never know.”
“There might be a bit of luck.”
