Melbourne Victory striker Besart Berisha believes the squad’s stability in recent weeks has been the leading factor behind back-to-back wins.
Victory followed up a 2-1 win against Brisbane Roar with a last-gasp 1-0 triumph over Melbourne City last Saturday to register consecutive victories for the first time this A-League season.
The only change to the starting XI for the Derby was Stefan Nigro replacing the injured Leigh Broxham, a stark contract to earlier in the season when key players were consistently missing due to international duty, injury and suspension.
READ: Berisha extends Victory stay
“It’s not easy when you keep missing players, you have to play with different styles and approach the games in a different way,” Berisha said.
“That was a tough start, I also missed two games, but I’m happy that everybody is here, especially James [Troisi] and Kosta [Barbarouses] up front because you want to get back in a rhythm.
“We always find each other, we work really hard up front and I hope the goals will follow soon.”
After an inconsistent start to the campaign, Berisha identified the last two results as a potential turning point in Victory’s season.
“We definitely feel good about the way we are approaching games, especially the last two games.
“It’s been a really tough start for everyone, and for me as a striker I want to score more goals.
“But the last two games will give us a lot of confidence for sure.”
After missing a penalty against Adelaide earlier in the season, Berisha relinquished spot kick duties to Mark Milligan for the Derby.
The striker paid tribute to Milligan’s ability to score the winner in the 96th minute and was happy to leave the responsibility with Victory’s midfielder, for now.
“It could be in the next game that I take it, but Millsy is feeling good at the moment and he should keep taking them.
“Against City it was a great penalty, an important penalty for us and in the end we won the game and we need those points so that was more important than who would take the penalty.”
