Melbourne Heart FC Head Coach John van ‘t Schip is poised to make sweeping changes to the side which suffered a 1-3 defeat to Wellington Phoenix yesterday.
Melbourne Heart FC Head Coach John van ‘t Schip is poised to make sweeping changes to the side which suffered a 1-3 defeat to Wellington Phoenix yesterday.
Having struggled for sustained form since the New Year, Heart has fallen to fifth on the Hyundai A-League table, unravelling the inroads made during the Red and White-s stellar end to 2011.
In a bid to reverse his side-s fortunes, van ‘t Schip will shake up his side ahead of the Melbourne Derby on the weekend, indicating he will make a number of alterations to the side which faltered across the Tasman.
While the departure of Aziz Behich and Mate Dugandzic to Australian Under 23s duty has forced his hand to some degree, van ‘t Schip indicated Wayne Srhoj and Paul Reid are certainly in contention to feature against Heart-s cross town rivals on Saturday night.
The Ajax legend also indicated members of Heart-s National Youth League squad would be considered for a call-up to the Hyundai A-League, with left back Craig Goodwin among those impressing in recent weeks.
Van ‘t Schip says his selection will largely be determined by performances in training, challenging his charges to earn their place in the starting eleven when Heart resumes training on Wednesday.
“We’ll see who is sharp this week, who really wants to win,” he said.
“There are three boys leaving for the Olympic team but there are a few boys coming back – Wayne Srhoj and Paul Reid, maybe even some players from the youth team.
“I’ll have a look because one thing is sure I want players on the pitch who are awake and going out there for a 100 percent win.”
Although Heart has been far from disgraced in recent weeks, van ‘t Schip wants his side to begin delivering on the promise which saw the Red and White mooted for a potential title challenge at the turn of the year.
