Wollongong United vs. Wollongong Olympic

Macedonia Park

Kick-off: Saturday, 2:30pm

Referee: Chris Munn

Wollongong United will look to continue their charge up the ladder as they take on Wollongong Olympic at Macedonia Park on Saturday.

United have been in good form of late having not lost a game in their last five outings; including an impressive three straight wins leading up to this weekend’s clash.

Now sitting in 3^rd with a three point buffer over 4^th place, head coach OliverVrtkovski is delighted with how his team is playing this season.

“The boys are happy, there’s a positive energy about us and I’m excited about where we are at the moment,” he said.

“In terms of what we’re trying to do this season I think we’re tracking quite well.”

United will hope to continue their good run as they face a tricky matchup against Olympic who have had mixed results in tough season for the club.

Coming off a hard loss to Bellambi in round 12, Olympic will be looking to grab a win and push themselves back into the mix in the middle of the table.

Coach Vrtkovski is expecting no easy task for United.

“Olympic’s going to be a tough competition; they’ve had a few results go against them recently but they are a challenging team to play against,” he said.

“They’ll be looking to bounce back from their loss last weekend so we’ll have to be wary of that.

“Olympic are a well-drilled, well-structured team so it’s important we focus on what we want to do come game at a time.

“Our approach is always to look at our own game first and make sure we’re doing the basics right but at the same time we always try to counter what the opposition is going to do as well.”

Wollongong United face internal issues as well, however, with several niggling injuries casting a doubt over their options for Saturday.

United have struggled with injuries all season but have found plenty of help through the club’s youth system.

“Injuries have been one of our pitfalls this season, we have a lot of question marks throughout the squad,” said Vrtkovski.

“We’ve had a lot of young boys step up to the mark and do extremely well for us but for the moment we’re just going to have to see how the week plays out and who is fit come game day.”

One of those players carrying an injury is Robbie Shields who has been the stand out man for Wollongong United this season.

Last year’s George Naylor medalist has continued his fine form into this season scoring a host of goals leading United’s attack.  His current tally stands at 13 from 12 games played. Impressive to say the least.

The club will be sweating on his fitness as his goals have been vital for the team’s success.