City Head Coach John van’t Schip says talk about his side’s Premier’s Plate run is far from his mind as they prepare to face Wellington on Easter Monday at AAMI Park.
City finished the round in second position, only one point behind league leaders Western Sydney, which is the Club’s highest position after Round 24.
Friday’s 3-1 win also marked the highest season points haul from the and with plenty of excitement surrounding the side, the Dutchman is wary of a testing three weeks.
“It doesn’t matter too much now because it’s at the end of the road where you get the prizes,” van’t Schip said.
“We have to make sure we are focused on the next game, Wellington and then Perth away, that’s a hard match and we have Adelaide so that’s three big games.
“Wellington has had good results in the last couple of weeks. They play without that pressure of making finals, they can play freely and they had a good result at Western Sydney, they had a good result away at Sydney and it’s a dangerous team. We have to be prepared and focused and take it game by game in a very disciplined way.”
In the past month, van’t Schip has admitted mometum is the key to success in the Hyundai A-League and with three consecutive wins under his belt, the Head Coach admits his side are determined to continue this run.
“Winning gives confidence and the boys have had a good few weeks but it’s also the momentum you have to keep,” he said.
“I work with the boys every day, they want to win, they want to play football and are determined to do what we ask from them. Today, they had a great reaction. For us, it was important and with three games to go, we had to win today.
“It’s good to see players coming in off the bench giving that impact. The last game it was Jacob Melling and today it was Anthony Caceres who made an impact from coming in so everybody is sharp and focused and knows that they have to perform so that’s only good.”
With the international break clashing with this round, City will be missing Aussie duo Aaron Mooy and Alex Wilkinson as well as Northern Ireland international Aaron Hughes which opens the door for Connor Chapman to make his way back into the side.
“He’s already with us in the last two games. He’s training, he’s been on the bench so that means he’s fit but just like many of the other players, he just has to wait for his chance to come in and that could be next week.”
