Victory captain Josh Brillante says winning the FFA Cup on Saturday night would be a “massive” achievement for the Club after a tough few years.
Finishing at the bottom of the A-League Men table last season meant Victory were forced to play-off for a spot in the Cup to enter the Round of 32 stage.
Now sitting high on the league table and remarkably still alive in the Cup, Melbourne are hitting Saturday’s Final against Central Coast with a wave of momentum.
“It’s huge for the Club, especially after the last couple of years,” Brillante told media on Thursday morning.
“Very quickly it’s turned around and now we’re in a final so it’s massive and a great opportunity. I’m super excited.
“It would be unreal to be able to hold up the trophy as captain and even better doing it for the Club.
“It would be nice for everyone involved to enjoy that feeling.”
Victory have used a whopping 31 players in their five-game Cup run, relying on the depth of their squad to keep the dream alive.
Emerging talents fought mightily in the early stages of the run before senior players got the opportunity to join the efforts in the last few rounds.
The skipper says making the Final has been an entire squad achievement.
“The depth in our squad is massive for us and it’s shown in how far we’ve come this FFA Cup,” Brillante said.
“You have injuries and can’t rely on just 11 players, it’s about the whole squad. A lot of guys have played and done extremely well for us in games, so it’s been of huge importance to us.”
Victory and the Mariners are yet to square off this season after their January fixture was postponed, leaving plenty of intrigue to how the match will play out.
Regardless of playing styles, Brillante is bracing for a brutal affair.
“We’re expecting a tough match. Every Final is a tough match, things can change quickly,” Brillante said.
“I expect a fiery game. We showed last game our attacking power is massive so we’ll be going all out and trying to score as many goals as we can.”
Watch the full press conference:
