Kevin Muscat is pleased with the competition for places in his Melbourne Victory squad, aided by the returns of several players from injury.
Terry Antonis and Elvis Kamsoba have been named in an extended Victory squad for Saturday’s clash against Perth Glory at HBF Park after being sidelined.
Defenders James Donachie and Thomas Deng were also included following suspension and international duty respectively.
Speaking at a pre-match news conference on Friday, head coach Muscat said the competition for spots in the Victory XI had ramped up during the international break.
“This week’s been particularly enjoyable for me, seeing players vying for positions, wanting to get into that team,” he said.
“Terry Antonis comes back and Elvis comes back and trains for the last two weeks.
“All of a sudden, there’s a reality of someone knocking on the door. We haven’t selected the team yet, but we will do over the next day or so.”
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However, Raul Baena will miss the clash against Perth due to a hamstring injury, while Deng only returned from Olyroos duty on Thursday.
Muscat hopes Victory can produce an improved display against Hyundai A-League leader Perth, which has won the two meetings between the clubs this season.
“Some talented individuals on both teams, they’ve proved they know how to get results this season,” he said.
“Whether Perth change the way they play because they’re at home, based on the last two games, I don’t know, I’m not too sure they will. My gut instinct tells me they will remain the same.
“From our perspective, we’re not going to change either. You might say, ‘it’s not yielded you the result in the last two games so something’s got to change’. Well, we’ve got to get better at how we want to play and that’s the focus and the clear focus has been on that.
“Whether we’re playing Perth here or Perth over across there, our mantra will be the same and the players seem to enjoy it.
“We want to turn that performance a notch higher to take the three points, no doubt.”
