Robbie Kruse talked up the importance of the FFA Cup for Melbourne Victory’s youth after reaching the last 16 on Wednesday.
Anthony Leban tucked away the match-winning penalty for the second straight week, his 96th-minute spot-kick seeing Victory edge Adelaide City 1-0.
Victory finished the last-32 clash with a young side, and Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio earned the penalty converted by Leban.
Kruse said it was key for the Club’s young talent to continue getting the experience of cut-throat cup ties.
“It’s really important. Obviously that was our goal – to get to the next round,” he said.
“Obviously these cup games against the local teams are really difficult games. Tonight they were really up for the fight, we probably were well off it in terms of just the little things like the battles that give you the opportunity to play and we were behind everything and losing everything so it was a really disappointing game.
“But it’s a cup game and we have a lot of kids playing so it’s good for their experience and we win another game and through to the Gold Coast now, which will be another good trip for the boys to go on.”
Leban converted the winning penalty in last week’s shoot-out win over Perth Glory and the midfielder stepped up again against City.
The result extended Victory’s winning run to start the season to four games ahead of hosting Perth in the Isuzu UTE A-League at AAMI Park on Sunday.
Kruse hopes to see another strong crowd at Victory’s home, where fans created an electric atmosphere in a 3-0 win over Brisbane Roar.
“It’ll be a really good game. Obviously we’ve won the first four games we’ve played in the cup and the league and it’s going to be really good,” he said.
“Hopefully the fans turn out again in their droves like they did last game because they definitely helped us a lot, they seem to be really excited by the way the team’s playing at the moment.
“The vibe around the club is very good at the moment and we implore everyone to come out and get behind us and hopefully we can stay on top of the table.”
