3 minute read

Three days after beating leaders Wellington, Melbourne City are determined to back up against Western Sydney in a game crucial to the A-League Men finals race.

Goalkeeper Jamie Young says Melbourne City must prove they have turned a corner by backing up their clutch win over Wellington in their potentially finals-defining clash with Western Sydney.

City snapped a five-game winless run with a 1-0 victory, and impressive performance, over A-League Men leaders Wellington on Saturday, following a mid-week heart-to-heart with coach Aurelio Vidmar.

Young stopped short of calling the performance a turning point, stressing City needed to back up against the Wanderers at AAMI Park on Tuesday, just three days after beating the Phoenix.

"I suppose you don't really know until after the fact," he said.

"But this was a tough game to play against a team who's red-hot in form. They've obviously surprised many people in the competition.

"So a turning point, we hope so.

"But now that's gone and we have to go and do it against Western Sydney. So you take every challenge as it comes and I think we'll go into this game with that in mind.

"You could see the level of togetherness in our team. Definitely a competitive edge. I thought that was evident.

"So that was a good performance for us and then the challenge is, can we emulate that in subsequent performances?"

There will be intrigue over whether skipper Jamie Maclaren, on a 10-game goalless run, will start after he was benched for Max Caputo against Wellington.

City will enter Tuesday's contest in seventh, two points behind the sixth-placed Wanderers.

"It's as big as anyone wants to make it," Young said.

"At the end of the day, we have to approach it in the same manner that we approach any of our games: there are points are up for grabs, and that's what we're intending to get.

"We know they're a quality opposition but so are we and if we can get a run of momentum at this time of the season, that's to our benefit."

The Wanderers will be without captain and centre-back Marcelo after he picked up his fifth yellow card in Friday's loss to Western United.

But they remain a threat at set pieces while former United attacker Nicolas Milanovic is in red-hot form.

"They have different ways of scoring goals, set pieces is one ... but they can also go in transition as well," Young said.

"I know they press high. Milanovic, I played with him, we know he's a threat. We know about these strengths.

"But I think for the most part we concentrate on us and we double down on us."