Canberra United’s topsy-turvy A-League Women season continues with a must-win clash against Western Sydney in their push towards finals.
Just two games on from consecutive 5-0 losses that looked likely to end United’s season, the capital club are now riding the high of back-to-back wins, including a mammoth upset of third-placed Sydney last time out.
Better yet, they are now just five points off the top four with a game in hand on fourth-placed Melbourne Victory, who stumbled to a 1-1 draw against Brisbane last time out.
Canberra host the Wanderers at McKellar Park on Saturday, with defender Ellen Gett suggesting a two-week break from action after their successive victories has only fuelled the team’s motivation.
“We have to take some time together as well as time away, just to rebuild that motivation and really smash home those results and make sure that we finish with a bang,” she said.
“It’s one game at a time, that’s the main message from the coaching staff and our leadership team – we can’t get ahead of ourselves.
“We have to have finals in the back of our mind but one game at a time and focusing on each team task and each training … that’ll get us there.”
The Wanderers are eighth on the table and appear long odds of making finals, although they have picked up wins against Newcastle and Wellington in their last three matches.
Gett said continuing to tighten up defensively would be vital in the push for finals, with United having registered only three clean sheets in 12 games so far.
“It’s just more structure and having trust,” she said.
“Trust is a big value we like to emphasise in our team. Having trust in our backline and in our forwards and all over the park is something that’s just going to pull us all together.
“We need to make sure we start the first 15 minutes really strong like we did against Sydney – Western Sydney Wanderers like to run, they can run for days.
“(It’s about) making sure that we can move the ball nicely … and just playing our game.”
Both sides have named unchanged squads, with Canberra again missing China international Wu Chengshu.
By Alex Mitchell in Canberra
