City midfielder Osama Malik says his side is focused on getting back to winning ways on New Year’s Day as they face an embattled Western Sydney side.
City have tasted back to back losses against Victory and Sydney in the past two weeks but Malik feels the positive results are just around the corner with the past two performances reflecting that sentiment.
“It’s probably disappointing that we dropped a few points that we probably shouldn’t have,” Malik said.
“As you said, there were two good performances. I don’t think Victory’s position on the table reflects how good they are going at the moment so the first half on the weekend wasn’t great but the second half we played really well and it unfortunately it didn’t go our way.
“You never want to concede goals early in a half or late in a half but to concede three goals in the last two games during those times of the game is disappointing and something that we have to work on.
“We’re not even halfway through the season yet and we are in a decent position so now after the new year we need to get results and go and a bit of a run and we’ll be in good shape.”
With Western Sydney’s issues heavily publicised over the past fortnight, Malik is wary of the wounded Wanderer saying it is harder to play against teams in that predicament.
“To be honest we’re focused on ourselves and what we can do,” he said.
“Sometimes it’s difficult to play against teams that are a bit up and down because on the day they are very good side with very good players. Gombau is one of the best coaches in the league so we have to be at our best to get a good result against them.”
City face Western Sydney on New Year’s Day at ANZ Stadium, kick-off 7.50pm. City return home to AAMI Park on January 6 to take on Wellington Phoenix in a Double Header with our W-League side. The women face Perth at 5pm while the men kick-off at 7.50pm.
