VICTORY fly out of Melbourne this morning a day later than usual but armed with a three-pronged attack ahead of its do-or-die ACL showdown in Osaka on Wednesday.
“We’ve played all the sides in our group now, so now it’s about results,” coach Ernie Merrick told au.fourfourtwo.com. “It’ll be an attacking line up for us on Wednesday night with a three-man strike force.
“We have to have an attitude of finishing teams off and that’s what we’re working towards.”
Socceroo Tommy Pondeljak could come into the starting X1 perhaps in a more forward role as Merrick looks for added firepower alongside three-goal Danny Allsopp and winger Adrian Caceres, who terrorized Osaka’s left flank ten days ago in the 4-3 loss at the Dome.
Osaka top the group on seven points and are the bookies favourite to go through to the knockout stage. In second is Chonburi on four points followed by Victory and the Dragons on three.
The Victory squad leaves Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport around 6am this morning (Mon), a day later than usual. Merrick explained why.
He said: “For Bangkok [against Chonburi] we wanted to acclimatise a little more due to the heat, while in Osaka the temperatures will be virtually the same as here. And the time difference is only one hour so there are no real concerns there.
“We wanted to fly during the day and that’s very important for us. We are very conscious of sleeping patterns.
“We’ll relax in Osaka on the Monday, have a session on the pitch on the Tuesday between 11 and 12pm and then we’ll be ready for the game.
“We didn’t want an extra day when there were no real concerns with the conditions and jet lag.
“There’s nothing worse than sitting there an extra day and sometimes for the younger ones the more you’re waiting the more you worry. I don’t think that helps.”
He added: “We’ll be in, have a session, play the game and be out.”
Pondeljak, who played the final 25 minutes of last week’s trial match against Adelaide United, has trained strongly this week. He comes in for Danny Vasilevski who has a back injury.
Midfielder Leigh Broxham rolled his ankle in the Reds hitout but Merrick says the tenacious Olyroo should be fit for Wednesday night.
Melbourne’s sister city relationship with Osaka means the Japanese city’s mayor will host a civic function for Victory the day after the match before the squad flies home.
Meanwhile, in the J-League this weekend, Gamba drew 0-0 against Kashima Antlers. Akira Nishino’s side now sits in sixth spot in the league.
“We have to have an attitude of finishing teams off and that’s what we’re working towards.”
Socceroo Tommy Pondeljak could come into the starting X1 perhaps in a more forward role as Merrick looks for added firepower alongside three-goal Danny Allsopp and winger Adrian Caceres, who terrorized Osaka’s left flank ten days ago in the 4-3 loss at the Dome.
Osaka top the group on seven points and are the bookies favourite to go through to the knockout stage. In second is Chonburi on four points followed by Victory and the Dragons on three.
The Victory squad leaves Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport around 6am this morning (Mon), a day later than usual. Merrick explained why.
He said: “For Bangkok [against Chonburi] we wanted to acclimatise a little more due to the heat, while in Osaka the temperatures will be virtually the same as here. And the time difference is only one hour so there are no real concerns there.
“We wanted to fly during the day and that’s very important for us. We are very conscious of sleeping patterns.
“We’ll relax in Osaka on the Monday, have a session on the pitch on the Tuesday between 11 and 12pm and then we’ll be ready for the game.
“We didn’t want an extra day when there were no real concerns with the conditions and jet lag.
“There’s nothing worse than sitting there an extra day and sometimes for the younger ones the more you’re waiting the more you worry. I don’t think that helps.”
He added: “We’ll be in, have a session, play the game and be out.”
Pondeljak, who played the final 25 minutes of last week’s trial match against Adelaide United, has trained strongly this week. He comes in for Danny Vasilevski who has a back injury.
Midfielder Leigh Broxham rolled his ankle in the Reds hitout but Merrick says the tenacious Olyroo should be fit for Wednesday night.
Melbourne’s sister city relationship with Osaka means the Japanese city’s mayor will host a civic function for Victory the day after the match before the squad flies home.
Meanwhile, in the J-League this weekend, Gamba drew 0-0 against Kashima Antlers. Akira Nishino’s side now sits in sixth spot in the league.
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