Melbourne Heart FC midfielder Jason Hoffman is keen to impress in the Red and White’s engine room, despite competition for starting spots.
Melbourne Heart FC midfielder Jason Hoffman is keen to impress in the Red and White-s engine room, despite competition for starting berths in Head Coach John Aloisi’s side.
With captain Fred hoping to recover from a hamstring injury in time to face Adelaide United this Saturday, subject to a fitness test, and with Vince Grella aiming to make his Heart debut within the next four weeks, there is plenty of competition for limited places in Heart-s midfield.
But Hoffman is hoping to use his current form and opportunities to push for a regular starting berth.
On the back of a solid performance in the Heart-s emphatic 4-1 win over Brisbane Roar, Hoffman believes the confidence in the Heart camp is sky high and players have been standing up to show their potential.
“I think the whole team in general played really well,” Hoffman reflected on Friday-s victory.
“From the starting 11 and the boys that came in and scored goals like Willlow [David Williams] and people like Nicky Kalmar and myself who haven-t played a lot football, we were helped a lot by the other guys and it made it fantastic experience for the boys who haven-t played much in the early stages of the season.
“I think Josip Tadic really found his feet after the first few rounds and he was fantastic for us and so was Richard Garcia; he was brilliant.
“And we were also led from the back by Patrick [Gerhardt]; getting the first goal and he was charging forward late in the game as well.
“It was just one of those games where the entire squad of 15 players were up for it and if we can build on that for this week I-m sure we can go to Adelaide and get the three points.”
Hoffman has been handed two starts – against Western Sydney Wanderers and Roar – in consecutive matches and he hopes to hold his role despite pressure from other players.
“Vinnie-s added to that [quality midfield] and he-s a fantastic footballer – he-s got the pedigree – and Fred as well; he-s a fantastic leader for us and there-s no surprise why he-s captain for us, he leads by example,” Hoffman said.
“At the moment I-m happy to be playing and I guess it-s good for competition and you know that you-ve always got to improve.
“If I can build on that and do 5-10 per cent better this weekend against Adelaide hopefully I will be rewarded and keep my spot.
“We-ll take confidence from our win on Friday and travel to Adelaide this week and we-ll be ready to go and hopefully we-ll get the three points.”
