Grant Brebner believes Melbourne Victory have got their winning mentality back and it could not have come at a better time as the Hyundai A-League leaders prepare for the first of three successive road trips this weekend.
Grant Brebner believes Melbourne Victory have got their winning mentality back and it could not have come at a better time as the Hyundai A-League leaders prepare for the first of three successive road trips this weekend.
Brebner, who defied illness to bravely play the first half of Melbourne’s impressive 2-1 win over Central Coast at Telstra Dome on Friday night, says he is beginning to see comparisons between the club’s on-field attitude this season and during the championship-winning season of two years ago.
While Melbourne has much work to do to repeat the heroics of 2006/07, the win over the Mariners took the team three points clear on top of the table with nine rounds remaining and the team showed great resolve by winning despite falling behind in the first half.
The experienced Brebner said the recent wins on the road against Adelaide and Queensland, followed by the come-from-behind home win against the Mariners, was a great sign for the Victory’s prospects for the rest of the season.
“There’s a lot the same and there is a lot of differences (between this season and the championship-winning season of two years ago) but the biggest thing is we have got that winning mentality again,” he said on Monday, as Melbourne began preparations for Friday night’s trip to Wellington.
“That (getting a winning mentality) is a habit that is very hard to get into a team but once you get that mentality of wanting to win week in, week out it’s worth its weight in gold and you just sense in the dressing room that we have got it at the moment.”
A further boost for the Victory is the likelihood of a full squad to pick from for Friday night’s trip to face a Wellington side that will be boosted by the presence of former Melbourne star Fred, who is currently on a guest stint with the New Zealand club.
The Victory will not only regain Costa Rican international Jose Luiz Lopez from international duty but wing-back Evan Berger could return from injury and Brebner is over the virus that limited him against the Mariners.
“I am not so bad now,” he said on Monday.
“I had a bit of a virus in the lead-up to the game and it was only a few hours before the game that I managed to start getting some food back into me.”
“In hindsight it (playing against the Mariners) was a bit too much too soon but I’ve had a good weekend since then – getting fluids and food back into me – and I am getting back to normal.”
