Jeff Hopkins wants the anger from last weekend’s defeat to fuel Melbourne Victory in Matchweek 5.
Brisbane Roar took the spoils at Gioca Stadium seven days ago, as the Girls in Blue suffered a first defeat of the Ninja A-League season, losing 2-0 on the road.
Victory created plenty of chances but lost out in two key moments toward the end of the first half, costing them their unbeaten start to 2026/27.
Now back on Victorian soil, for the first of two home matches to end the month, Adelaide United is hosted at Lakeside Stadium on Saturday, November 14, kick-off 3:00pm AEDT, and the Head Coach is forecasting a strong response from his team.
Speaking during the pre-match press conference, Hopkins implored his players to use the sour taste of losing as extra motivation to bounce back in front of their supporters.
“Exactly what we want is a reaction from last week. Disappointing is probably the wrong word. We are angry with ourselves that we let the game slip away. We dominated the game in just about every stat apart from the key one. We didn’t compete hard enough, and that’s something we really look at as a real trait of ours: that we win the duels, we compete. That’s angered us, and we’re definitely going to put it right this week.
“Looking forward to the game, hopefully, we can put in as good an attacking performance, probably a little bit better in the final third, but we add to that the competitive side and get that right. I think you’ll see a really different side this week.”
Captain, Kayla Morrison, also backed the squad, leaning on the strong foundations set during pre-season, to right the wrongs of Matchweek 4 when taking on Adelaide, who are without a win.
“There was a lot to obviously focus on after the loss last week, so it was just about staying positive, keeping the culture high, and just fixing those things that let us down last weekend.
“We kept a lot of possession of the ball, but it’s having that killer instinct to go forward. They had a few shots on goal, but they were really great quality shots. So I think cleaning it up in that final third would be good for us.”
