Jeff Hopkins expects Melbourne Victory to perform with new energy this weekend.
The Girls in Blue conclude their home Ninja A-League campaign against Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday, March 14, kick-off 6pm AEDT, at The Home of The Matildas.
Victory are aiming for a league double over the Wanderers, having won the reverse fixture 1-4 in New South Wales, with American centre-forward Kennedy White hitting a hat-trick.
Three points in Round 19 are of particular importance to the hosts, who sit inside the top six on goal difference going into their last three matches.
Speaking during his pre-match press conference, Hopkins explained how his team have maximised the time between fixtures as the ALW competition paused to accommodate the start of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup.
“We’ve used the time pretty productively. It’s been a bit of a reset for us. Although we were in, I thought, good form, we’ve been able to do a combination of work pretty hard.
“We’ve freshened up as well, and we’ve got some really good preparation for this game tomorrow. I think in general, we’ve used the break really well, and we’re really hungry to play.”
Hopkins also revealed that the Women’s team welcomed Victory royalty to the training track this week. Club legend and current Senior Academy Head Coach, Besart Berisha, delivered a finishing clinic at the end of Thursday’s session.
“This week, we wanted to make it a little bit more special, leading in almost like it’s a Finals game for us, which really it is.
“We brought Bes in, and he was fantastic. He came in, spoke to the players before training, came and watched a big part of the training, and then he took a finishing session at the end of it.
“The girls really took to him, listened to what he was saying. Balls were flying in from every angle, so hopefully that rubs off for the game on the weekend.”
Watch Hopkins’ full press conference below.
