Melbourne defender Matthew Kemp believes Thursday’s clash with Newcastle should hold no fears for the defending champion, despite the fact the Jets have won four of their past five clashes with Victory.
Melbourne defender Matthew Kemp believes Thursday’s clash with Newcastle should hold no fears for the defending champion, despite the fact the Jets have won four of their past five clashes with Victory.
Newcastle has been somewhat of a bogey team for Melbourne in recent times, having won two of the three matches between the pair last season, including a shock 4-2 win at EnergyAustralia Stadium in December.
But Kemp would rather reflect on the 5-0 win Melbourne inflicted on the Jets earlier last season and on the fact that after last week’s loss to Perth, Victory will be desperate to secure points at home.
“We’re going to have to be on top of our game to get any sort of result. But being here back at home after a couple of extra away trips, we’re going to be ready to come out firing,” he said.
“They’ve been a tough team for us. I don’t know what it is. The way they play their football, they frustrate us at times. We’ll have to be mentally strong and try and break then down. It’s something that we can do. We have to be switched on. We can’t take any game lightly. We really need to start picking up more points than we have been.”
Kemp, who is returning to the side after missing the last two matches while waiting for his wife to give birth to their first child, is aware that the Jets are in great form after they knocked off Gold Coast 1-0 in Newcastle on Sunday.
“I expect them to be buzzing after their result on the weekend. They’re obviously full of confidence and they are coming here to knock us off. They are quite a good side, they’ve got some players all the way through,” he said.
He doesn’t predict any difficultly fitting back in, should he be chosen to return to the side, despite the many personnel changes the Melbourne defence has undergone in recent weeks. No less than eight players have featured in the starting back four for Melbourne this year, but Kemp just sees that as an endorsement of the club’s depth.
“It’s changed a lot, but we’ve got good players right the way through the squad who can step in and do a job. It’s good that we’ve got that kind of depth. If I get back in this week and get my spot, it doesn’t matter who’s around, we’ve got quality players,” he said.
But before he gets out on the field, he has a little catching up to do. His parenting duties prevented him from seeing Victory’s 2-1 defeat by Perth on Friday, but he is keen to get up to speed as soon as possible.
“I haven’t seen the weekend’s game yet. I’ve got it recorded, so I’m going home to watch it this afternoon. From what I heard, we played some good football but didn’t take our chances. I’ll have a look and see what I think. I’m sure Ernie (Merrick) and Aaron (Healey) will be assessing that hopefully we can turn things around,” he said.
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