Young Melbourne Heart FC star Mate Dugandzic is hopeful he can recover well after a gruelling schedule to take to the field against Wellington Phoenix in Morwell on Sunday.
Young Melbourne Heart FC star Mate Dugandzic is hopeful he can recover well after a gruelling schedule to take to the field against Wellington Phoenix in Morwell on Sunday.
Dugandzic, who represented Australia in the recent Olympic qualifiers in Doha and Sydney, is confident he-ll be fit to face the Phoenix despite the fatiguing travel.
The Olyroos faced Iraq in Doha mid-week before returning to Australia to face Uzbekistan in Sydney on Sunday with both games ending in 0-0 draws.
“I-m feeling how I usually do after any sort of game on the weekend and hopefully I-ll be able to recover well,” Dugandzic said.
“I-m probably feeling a lot better than a 30-year-old and I-ve got that youth on my side and that energy on my side….I-m feeling fine.
“It-s a bit of a difference experience travelling from Doha to Sydney and playing four or five days later.”
Dugandzic has missed both of Melbourne Heart-s most recent games but admitted he was able to watch the Gold Coast game despite being overseas.
“In Doha we were able to live stream the game through the internet so we were able to watch the Gold Coast game, and I think the boys played really well,” Dugandzic said.
“I did see the highlights (of the Central Coast game) and it looked like we were a bit unfortunate with a couple of refereeing decisions but you can-t really do anything about that now.
“I think everyone-s put it behind them. It-s part of the game and everyone has got to understand that.
“Referees make these decisions in the spur of the moment and it-s not always the easiest task, so we-ve got to just step forward and forget what-s happened.”
Dugandzic is hopeful of a large crowd in Morwell and believes Heart are a good chance of taking all three points.
“We played a pre-season game there against Newcastle and we got a pretty large crowd there so hopefully we can get somewhat of another big crowd,” Dugandzic said.
“I-m not too sure what the pitch is going to be like.
“Our playing style is that we like to keep the ball moving and keeping the ball on the floor so hopefully we-ll be able to do that.”
