Jeff Hopkins is confident Melbourne Victory will be energised for this weekend’s Ninja A-League showdown with Brisbane Roar.
In a rematch of November’s 2025/26 season opener, Victory go face-to-face with the Roar at the Home of the Matildas on Sunday, January 11, kick-off 5pm AEDT.
The Round 1 clash was edged 3-2 by the Roar in Queensland. Leading goalgetters Kennedy White and Rhianna Pollicina marked their Club debuts by getting on the scoresheet away from home.
Returning to action following a bye round at the start of the new year, Victory are raring for their first game since they pulled off a remarkable stoppage-time comeback away to Central Coast Mariners.
Speaking to the media during his pre-match press conference, Hopkins praised the team’s spirit and identified how the good feeling from this result, combined with a well-deserved rest, has them fired up.
“We need to take the real positives out of that last three or four minutes and take that into the next game. We needed a break after that; we had played four games in a very short period of time.
“But also it shows that, however tired you think you might be, you’ve always got a little bit more in the tank, and it’s more around the mental side of things. If you keep positive and you keep going, then anything is possible.”
Honing in on the opposition, Hopkins advised: “In general, they’re a very positive team. They’ve built around their attack; they play with wide players, with players that really go at you, and probably one of the lessons we learnt from the first game was how good they are on the counterattack as well.”
While Hopkins could not provide a new update on Zoe McMeeken’s recovery from her foot injury, the break from A-League Women’s action has provided a window for returning players to get back up to speed and step off the injury list.
“Nicki (Flannery) will be available this week.
“Chelsea (Blissett), we got 75 minutes into her on the last weekend, so she’s obviously a lot better now than she was a couple of weeks ago.”
Watch Hopkins’ full press conference below.
