Max Hatzoglou
Western United coach John Aloisi revealed the club would likely be without star midfielder Alessandro Diamanti in its season aspirations as he deals with a injury to his right knee.
United will loo to jump Melbourne City on top of the A-League ladder to win its first ever minor premiership in its remaining three matches of the season.
“It’s gonna be touch and go for him to get back,” coach John Aloisi said.
United’s remaining three games will occur over an eight-day period from Saturday April 30 to Sunday May 8 featuring the Central Coast Mariners, Newcastle Jets and Adelaide United all away from home.
United currently sit second on the ladder, two points behind City with a game in hand.
Three wins would secure the minor premiership for United, while a few losses could put them below Melbourne Victory, who are two points below United in third position.
Aloisi said that he hasn’t discussed the prospect of a minor premiership with the group, as he elects to keep his focus on their next game before thinking too far ahead.
The Former Socceroo also said his players are prepared for the workload of three matches in eight-days following a 10-day break.
“It’s been something that we’ve prepared all season for because we’ve had to deal with it all season when we’ve had those short turnarounds and certain amount of games in a short period,” he said.
“Some players can deal with it better than other players and back it up quickly and we had the luxury of taking players off against Perth.
“Whether it’s going to be the same this week, I don’t know because you don’t know how the games will go but we’ve trained really well and we’ve been able to give the boys some good recovery but also some hard sessions so they will be ready to go.
Heading into its match against the Mariners, Aloisi anticipated it to be an exciting contest.
“It’s exciting for both teams and both clubs, they’re obviously playing for top six and we’re playing to still be challenging in that final round of the season,” Aloisi said.
“We know it’s a difficult game, they’ve got some very good players going forward but we know that if we play our best, we could cause them some problems as well.
“So we’re ready for the game and excited.”
Aloisi said the club is yet to get an indication of where they will play their home games for the finals this season.
The former socceroo opted out of giving a preferred venue saying he doesn’t mind where they play.
“No preferred home ground because we’ve played everywhere, five different grounds as our home stadiums,” he said.
“We’re happy to play anywhere.”
United played the Mariners on Saturday and will face Newcastle on Wednesday.
Results: meltonmoorabool.starweekly.com.au/sport/
