Melbourne Victory is looking to build on its winning start to the W-League season in Friday’s Melbourne Derby.
Melbourne Victory is looking to build on its winning start to the Westfield W-League season when it faces City in the Derby on Friday.
Victory claimed a 2-1 win over Canberra United in the opening round thanks to goals from Kristen McNabb and Natasha Dowie.
Head coach Jeff Hopkins saw room for improvement despite the win and said his side was hungry to get better.
“We knew that we wouldn’t be perfect the first week, just knowing that three or four players had just got in, they’d been with us a week and we hadn’t really had too much time to work on things,” he said.
“But the important thing is a lot of the structural stuff we did was good and it’s only going to get better and better.
“The attitude from the players is they want to make it better and that’s really pleasing for me.
“They just want to get better each time they get on the park. The more that we train together, the more that we play together, I think things will get better and better.”
Victory is boosted by the availability of South Korea international Jeon Ga-eul, whose clearance came through during the week.
Hopkins also has Westfield Young Matildas Annabel Martin and Melina Ayres available.
Victory and City split the two derbies last season, the former winning the most recent meeting 2-0 in January.
Westfield W-League 2017/18 Round 2
City v Melbourne Victory
Friday, November 3, 5.20pm AEDT
AAMI Park, Melbourne
Live on Fox Sports and SBS Viceland
Melbourne Victory squad (two to be omitted): 1.Casey DUMONT (gk), 3.Alex GUMMER, 5.Laura ALLEWAY, 6.Annabel MARTIN, 7.JEON Ga Eul, 8.Angela BEARD, 9.Natasha DOWIE, 10.Kyra COONEY-CROSS, 11.MelindaJ BARBIERI, 13.Laura SPIRANOVIC, 14.Melina AYRES, 16.Lia PRIVITELLI, 17.Gulcan KOCA, 18.Tiffany ELIADIS, 19.Kristen MCNABB, 20.Bethany MASON-JONES (gk), 31.Christina GIBBONS
Ins: 6.Annabel MARTIN (return from International duty), 14.Melina Ayres (return from International duty), 7.JEON Ga Eul (cleared to play)
Outs: 2.Whitney KNIGHT (not selected)
Unavailable: Nil
