Jeff Hopkins wants Melbourne Victory to take the game to Canberra United in the Ninja A-League this weekend.
Victory start the competition’s Round 6 action by welcoming United to the Home of the Matildas on Friday, December 3, kick-off 7pm AEDT.
The second of three successive home fixtures is the next opportunity to extend the ALW team’s 100% record when playing as hosts this season, with the latest outing taking place just six days after Perth Glory were overcome 3-0 in Bundoora.
Speaking during his pre-match press conference, Hopkins gave an assessment of the opposition, but made clear that he wants Victory to be the side on the front foot.
“Canberra always give us a really tough game. They’re a really well-organised side, and they’re very, very competitive. They play quite a physical game, and they’re reasonably direct, and with Michelle Heyman at one end, they’ve got a player who can finish things off.
“They’re a decent side this year, but we’ve had a look at them, and we’ve worked defensively on things that we need to do. Most of today’s session was about us and how we can break them down. I think that’s going to be the key for us.
“They’re coming to our place, we’re going to make it really hard for them. We’re not going to settle, and we’re going to be right at it from the word go.”
With Victory in command against Glory, thanks to a first-half onslaught, Hopkins was able to turn to his bench for fresh legs to see out the win.
One of the players introduced for her Club debut, having missed the season’s opening through injury, was Taylor Ray, and the Head Coach spoke about the midfielder’s next steps, including whether she can play in the same system as teammate Grace Maher.
“She’s fine to play more minutes if needed. For her, it’s about getting back into the side, and it’s for the players that are in the side to make it as hard as they possibly can for her by carrying on the performances close to where they were last week or better.
“They can be fitted into the side, for sure. We play with two sixes. The difficult thing now for me, over the next few weeks, with players becoming fit, is that we can only fit 11 players into the starting XI. It becomes a nice problem for me to have that!”
Watch Hopkins’ full press conference below.
