Victory vs City:Muscat fires shot at City on eve of derby war

Mark Milligan and Jesse Makarounas of the Victory contest for the ball during Victory training. Source: Getty Images

KEVIN Muscat has accused Melbourne City of producing their best only when they play against the Victory, anticipating another heated contest in tonight’s Melbourne derby.

The derby ledger sits at one apiece this A-League season, with the wins earned by each side in contrasting style.

With a hat-trick to Besart Berisha, Victory demolished City 5-2 in an early season rout before City fired back in December with a 1-0 win.

A late header from Erik Paartalu brought Victory’s first loss of the season.

Looking forward to the Etihad Stadium meeting, Muscat was happy give City credit for their performance, but left rival coach John van ’t Schip with a little something to consider.

“They pressed us well in that game,” he said.

“They bring a certain energy to the derbies that they probably don’t in other games. We have to prepare for that and match them.”

Earlier yesterday, van ’t Schip said his team did lift to play their rivals — but they weren’t the only ones.

“That counts for both teams,” he said. “People that say it’s not that way, don’t believe it. I’ve played derbies myself, and derbies are different.

“It’s good, the best thing that happened to the A-League is having two teams in one city, it makes the league a lot more lively.”

Two Socceroos and their availability will play a major role in this meeting.

As he was in the last derby, Victory captain Mark Milligan is suspended; the result of his elbow to the face of Sydney FC’s Terry Antonis.

Milligan’s time with the Socceroos has drawn out his A-League ban, which Muscat described as “the world’s longest three-game suspension”.

“It is what it is, we were aware of the rules before he was suspended. We’ve got no problems with it,” he said.

The level of former Socceroos striker Josh Kennedy’s involvement in the match is unclear.

Van ’t Schip ruled out a place for Kennedy in the starting
XI and said his role would depend on how the match played out.

“We’ll have to see if he’s going to play or not … we’ll see what his role can be,” he said.