Must unleash the beast

June 7 2014

Shepparton News

Peter Zois wants his Goulburn Valley Suns to find the beast within when Dandenong Thunder comes to town this weekend.

The Suns are bottom of the National Premier Leagues Victoria table and will be without four potential starters for one of their toughest challenges yet.

There might still be 15 rounds to play, but the Suns need points and they need them quickly if they are to survive in the top flight of Victorian soccer.

‘‘We need three points and sometimes teams have to be wary of that animal against the wall,’’ Zois said.

‘‘When it kicks into survival mode, it can be a dangerous beast and we’re in that position.

‘‘We’ve got to put things right at home. I don’t think we can say we left it all on the pitch last week.’’

The Thunder won the old Victorian Premier League in 2012 and while this year’s squad is much younger than the one that triumphed then, they have proven one of the division’s stronger outfits.

Dandenong sits fifth on the ladder with five wins from 11 games and will be looking to bounce back after a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of league leader South Melbourne.

‘‘I was at the game and until the 40th minute, you could say Thunder was the better team,’’ Zois said.

‘‘So we know we’re facing a team with a lot of quality and experience . . . and they’re going to be very hungry to bounce back.

‘‘They’re going to hit us hard so we have to hit them just as hard. We can’t be soft and be the second best; we’ll have to be much more aggressive and courageous than last week.’’

The Suns will be without Rossi Lagana and Daniel Chaabani through injury.

Frankie Lagana and Stipo Andrijasevic are also unavailable after picking up red cards last week, but there was some good news for Hernan Espindola, who has pulled up fine after a nasty tackle ended his involvement early last week.

Fahad Alghazaly is also back in contention after a knee complaint.

‘‘We’re glad to get those two back, because four out is more than enough for our thin squad,’’ Zois said.

‘‘We’re going to have to be a bit creative with the way we set up, but we’re going to be a bit bold.

‘‘We’re not going into the game to just try and avoid losing, we’re going to try and win and we have a game plan that we hope will allow that to happen.

‘‘Upsets occur all the time in soccer and that’s the beautiful thing. We’ve got Dandenong and South Melbourne in the next games and we want two wins.’’