Melbourne Victory duo Matt Acton and Storm Roux will go into this Saturday’s Melbourne Derby with confidence, following last weekend’s win against Newcastle Jets.
Defender, Dylan Ryan equalised for Victory just after half-time before Lleyton Brooks came off the bench to earn all three points away from home.
Acton, Roux and the rest of Grant Brebner’s squad will be looking to build on the positive result in an away match against City at AAMI Park.
Here's how the rest of April looks for us – starting with the Melbourne Derby this Saturday night! 👊
Grab your #MelbDerby tickets here: https://t.co/Hu6b41xDWJ
Use code VICACTIVE21 to unlock active area seats! #MVFC #Since05 pic.twitter.com/23WZdkJh4s
— Melbourne Victory (@gomvfc) April 15, 2021
Three points
“That win was important for us,” said Acton.
“The season so far has been disappointing, so the win was massive not only for our confidence but leading into a Derby it’s huge.”
Roux, who made his 14th A-League appearance of the season in the 2-1 win, believes a change of tactics led to a strong second-half performance.
“We went in at half-time, made some adjustments and played out from the back,” said the right-back.
“We executed that well in the second half and ultimately that got us the win.”
"The win was massive, not only for our confidence but heading into a Derby it's huge." 💬@Storm_Roux and @MatthewActon1 preview this Saturday's #MelbDerby after a positive result in Newcastle #MVFC #Since05 pic.twitter.com/ftvWc2NOnW
— Melbourne Victory (@gomvfc) April 15, 2021
The Derby
“We have a whole different game plan against City,” Roux continued.
“They’re a totally different team and play different football. We’ve been working on that this week and we’re pretty confident moving into this weekend.”
Roux played a full 90 minutes in the last instalment of the Derby, where Victory suffered a 6-0 loss at Marvel Stadium.
“A big loss like that to our rivals is always going to hurt,” Roux said.
“We’ve been working on it this week, looked back at the game and at what we can do better. We’re confident that we will be a lot more competitive.”
A second-half comeback thanks to goals from Dylan Ryan and Lleyton Brooks! #NEWvMVC #MVFC pic.twitter.com/yE8N8hadxH
— Melbourne Victory (@gomvfc) April 10, 2021
Youth
As a number of players continue to recover from injury, Victory’s squad is likely to feature a contingent of youth players.
Roux welcomes the prospect of playing alongside younger teammates, two of which secured the points against the Jets.
“It’s great to see young boys coming through and giving something, whether it’s off the bench or starting,” he said.
“I think everyone played great last week, with Brooks coming on and scoring that goal which was set up by Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio.”
