Melbourne Heart FC goalkeeper Clint Bolton expects to face an attacking minded outfit when the Club travels to EnergyAustralia Stadium for tonight’s match-up with the Newcastle Jets.
Melbourne Heart FC goalkeeper Clint Bolton expects to face an attacking minded outfit when the Club travels to EnergyAustralia Stadium for tonight-s match-up with the Newcastle Jets.
Bolton said Heart would need to remain alert if it is to overcome the challenge of the Jets, who boast a deep playing roster containing the likes of former Premier League star Michael Bridges.
“Newcastle has strong individual players all over the park, which means we have got to be very vigilant for the full 90 minutes,” he said.
“What you get from a Branko-led team is a side which likes to play attacking football, and that is what Newcastle will do.”
After recording the highest passing completion rate in the Hyundai A-League during the opening round, Heart proved that maintaining possession would indeed be central to its playing philosophy.
While Bolton believes Heart will be able to maintain this trend over the coming weeks, the four-time Socceroo said the side will need to translate its possession dominance to the scoreboard.
“We showed in the first game that as a team, we defend quite well, that-s definitely one of our strong points,” he said.
“The biggest key to gaining success this year I think is to turning possession into chances as we will have a lot of the ball. I think the first game that really came together was against Everton. They obviously probably gave us a bit more room than we would get in the A-League to play.”
He added: “But because of that, we were able to knock the ball about quite well. From there, to now, training, other games we-ve played, I think it-s coming along fine.
“Possession wise, we are going to have high numbers, but it-s just converting those numbers and opportunities to score that win games.”
And Bolton is keen for Heart to claim its first win against the Jets, who held Adelaide to a goalless draw at Hindmarsh Stadium last week.
“There’s been a lot of work put in off the park by the club, with people behind the scenes. Personally, I feel like I want to play my part on the park, so that this club is a success,” he said.
Newcastle Jets v Melbourne Heart FC
EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
Local kick-off: 8.00pm
Referee: Ryan Shepheard
Live and exclusive broadcast on FOX Sports 3, FS3 HD & delayed on Sky Sports 2.
Newcastle Jets squad: 1. Ben KENNEDY (gk), 3. Adam D-APUZZO, 4. Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 5. Ljubo MILICEVIC 6. Ben KANTAROVSKI 7. Kasey WEHRMAN 8. Michael BRIDGES, 10. Ruben ZADKOVICH, 11. Tarek ELRICH, 12. Jobe WHEELHOUSE, 13. Sash PETROVSKI, 14. Labinot HALITI, 16. Jeremy BROCKIE, 17. Marcello FIORENTINI, 18. Marko JESIC, 19. Ali ABASS, 30. Paul HENDERSON
*two to be omitted*
In: Nil
Out: 21.Brodie MOOY (not selected), 22. Kaz PATAFTA (not selected), 2. Taylor REGAN (not selected)
Unavailable: 9. Zhang SHOU, 20. Neil YOUNG (illness – indefinite), 15. Sean ROONEY (calf – 4/6 weeks)
Melbourne Heart FC squad: 1. Clint BOLTON (gk), 2. Michael MARRONE, 3. Brendan HAMILL, 4. Simon COLOSIMO (c), 5. Michael BEAUCHAMP, 6. Matthew THOMPSON, 7. Rutger WORM, 9. Gerald SIBON, 10. Wayne SRHOJ, 11. ALEX TERRA, 12. Peter ZOIS (gk) 17. Jason HOFFMAN, 19. Eli BABALJ, 20. Josip SKOKO, 21. Kliment TASESKI, 22. Nick KALMAR, 23. Dean HEFFERNAN, 24. Aziz BEHICH
*three to be omitted*
In: 10. Wayne SRHOJ, 17. Jason HOFFMAN (promoted), 21. Kliment TASESKI (promoted)
Out: Nil
Unavailable: 15.John ALOISI (Hamstring – 3 weeks), 8.Kristian SARKIES (Leg – Indefinite), 14.Kamal IBRAHIM (not selected), 18.Ante TOMIC (not selected)
