Nishan Velupillay is ready for his latest dose of the Melbourne Derby.
Melbourne Victory’s attacker has scored three times in the derby, being on the losing side just twice in 14 matches against Melbourne City.
Injury unfortunately ruled the Socceroo out of the last two meetings with City – May’s Grand Final and this season’s first clash held at the start of November.
The 24-year-old is now firmly back in the mix, having started last weekend’s Isuzu UTE A-League defeat of Adelaide United, and is eyeing more success in the derby on Saturday, December 20, kick-off 7:35pm AEDT, at AAMI Park.
Speaking during his pre-match press conference, Velupillay talked about the value of momentum and, as a Victory fan, what the Christmas Derby means to him.
“I think the Adelaide game was good. Obviously, we could be better, but I think in terms of breaking that momentum of a couple of games without a win, I think it was a good performance. We know that City is going to be another level. We can make our mark.
“I think these Christmas ones are always pretty entertaining. We’ve had a couple of really good derbies over the last couple of years, and these games I look forward to. Hopefully, we can get a lot of fans down.”
Velupillay suffered an ankle injury during the second-leg of May’s triumphant semi-final contest away to Auckland FC. Then, with his recovery nearly complete, he suffered a hamstring injury toward the conclusion of pre-season.
This period of absence means he has only recently trained regularly with off-season arrival Juan Mata.
The World Cup winner was a standout performer during the win versus Adelaide, and Velupillay believes there is more to come from the Spaniard.
“We haven’t had much time to train together, but now it’s time to form that connection. I think with all the front players, he’s starting to form that connection as well. Last week just showed the class that he still possesses.
“The more we can get the ball to him, the more we can create chances. We know he’s a special player and he’s going to help the team.”
Watch Velupillay’s full press conference below.
