Melbourne Victory will use ice vests and take in plenty of fluids in a bid to combat Perth’s expected heatwave for Sunday’s clash with the Glory at Members Equity Stadium.
Melbourne Victory will use ice vests and take in plenty of fluids in a bid to combat Perth’s expected heatwave for Sunday’s clash with the Glory at Members Equity Stadium.
With temperatures in the Western Australia capital tipped to reach 38 degrees, the Hyundai A-League leaders have put specific ‘cooling strategies’ in place as they bid to retain their status on top of the ladder with just three rounds remaining in the regular season.
“We’ll look at getting as much cooling into them as we can before we get out on the park and during the game, keeping their fluids up and ice vest to make sure they keep their core temperature down,” Victory assistant coach Aaron Healey said after a spirited training session at Gosch’s Paddock in Melbourne on Friday.
Melbourne has stuck with the same squad that defeated main championship rivals Adelaide United on Tuesday night for the trip west.
But it heads to Perth extremely wary of a Glory outfit – while still in with a mathematical, albeit slim, chance of making the finals – that is intent on knocking off the 2006/07 champion for the second time in six weeks.
The Glory defeated Melbourne 3-1 in their last meeting at Members Equity Stadium in Round 14.
“I think they’re still playing for spots, there are a lot of guys playing for contracts … so I think they’ll come out and give a good account of themselves,” Healey said.
“There are guys who have points to prove, they are coming up against the top team, they’re going to go out there and give it their best. They’ve got no pressure on them so they’ll go out there and do what they want to do.”
He added: “It’s a massive challenge for us, we haven’t performed well over there the last two times we’ve been there and we’re keen to put in a good performance and hopefully that will be enough to get the points.”
