John Aloisi has called on Western United fans to come together and head to AAMI Park for the Green and Black’s Boxing Day meeting with Melbourne Victory.
Due to sanctions imposed on Melbourne Victory after last week’s Melbourne Derby, only Western United members, or United fans that had a ticket prior to 11am on Friday December 23, are able to attend the match.
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Speaking in his post-match press conference after United’s 1-0 win over Western Sydney Wanderers last week, Aloisi said the Club will hope to make the event a special showcase of Isuzu UTE A-League Men football.
On the pitch, the United boss is eager to see a continuation of the form his side showed in the victory nine days ago, its second of the season.
“First of all I want to see a big crowd, and I know we’ll make sure it’s very safe for everyone,” he said.
“Boxing Day is a big day in Australia for a number of reasons, and we want to make it a big event for our game.
“From our players, we just keep working to improve. We know it’s going to be a hard game against a very good side, but if we can make sure we’re fighting for each other, we should be able to get the results we want.”
Adding to the win over the Wanderers, Aloisi admitted it felt like a big result for the team as he saw a return to the type of performance that made the Green and Black Isuzu UTE A-League Champions last season.
“It’s a massive win for us. We got a win in Wellington, but it was really important to keep that clean sheet and make sure we get back to what we’re really good at, and that’s making it hard for teams that play against us to actually score any goals or get any chances,” he said.
Western United built its success on defensive solidity last season, leading the league in clean sheets and seeing a number of star performers feature across the back four.
With a first clean sheet of the season and two wins in the last three matches, Aloisi said the confidence in the team has never wavered.
“We believe we can go all the way again. We know it’s a process, it’s a long season, there’s plenty of games to be played. We definitely can go on a run, we’ve got no doubt about that,” he said.
Western United takes on Melbourne Victory at 6pm tonight, with a win potentially elevating the side to within a point of the top six after nine rounds.
