Jeff Hopkins wants to see a finals mentality from his team in a must-win game this weekend.
Melbourne Victory know a win is essential on Friday, April 3, kick-off 7pm AEDT, in Round 22 of the 2025/26 Ninja A-League season if they are to have a chance of finishing inside the top six of the competition.
Standing in their way, as well as a reliance on results elsewhere, is a Perth Glory outfit also holding onto a sliver of hope that they can sneak into Finals.
A draw at the Sam Kerr Football Centre will not be enough for either side to join the end-of-season party in a mouthwatering matchup.
Speaking during his pre-match press conference, Hopkins explained the mindset that his team, who start the final round in seventh, need to showcase on Good Friday.
“The main thing that we talked about was our mentality, that we’ve got to be better in those key moments, those hard moments, those tough periods of games. We’ve got to come through those periods and come out on the other side intact, and we’ve got to be strong enough and tough enough, when we get into good positions, to make sure our final passes are clinical, and our finishes are clinical.
“Managing our emotions and managing those moments is really, really important, and that’s what gets you through into Finals and gets you through Finals.”
Victory suffered defeat to Sydney FC in the Big Blue last weekend, losing 2-1 in New South Wales despite opening the scoring and creating plenty of chances.
This time out, they are set to be boosted by the availability of Nicki Flannery, an injury absentee since January’s home clash with Brisbane Roar.
“[It will be] a very similar squad from last week, maybe one or two changes in the starting XI, and then hopefully we’ll just be able to bring in Nicki.
“Nicki Flannery has had some really good news this week in terms of her availability. She’s been training for a couple of weeks now, so we’ll more than likely bring her back into the squad.
“She’s a player that’s proven at this level. She was a really important player to us last year, and just having her in and around the group, her experience and bubbliness [is important].”
Watch Hopkins’ full press conference below.
