Western Sydney Wanderers head coach Markus Babbel says the team have learnt from their mistakes in their last FFA Cup match and are ready for Wednesday night’s test against Bonnyrigg White Eagles.
Western Sydney Wanderers head coach Markus Babbel says the team have learnt from their mistakes in their last FFA Cup match and are ready for Wednesday night’s test against Bonnyrigg White Eagles.
You can get your tickets for the match here.
The Wanderers scrapped through to the Round of 16 after an Oriol Riera double, as well as goals from Roly Bonevacia and an own goal, proved to be just enough for the Red & Black to progress.
It was a challenging match for the Wanderers who dropped off after a taking a 2-0 lead in the humid Northern Territory, only for Hellenic to fight back and give the Red & Black a good run for their money.
Babbel believes that despite the shaky start to the national tournament, the Wanderers will go through to the next stage if they do their jobs right against Bonnyrigg White Eagles on Wednesday night.
“We have three more weeks of training in our legs, this game (against Hellenic AC) helped us a lot because we did many mistakes and we got into some trouble against a team that is not the best in the world – but we were struggling and it showed,” said Babbel.
“It showed that if you aren’t doing the things that we are doing right on the training pitch and if we get nervous in a game like this then you get in trouble.
“Against Hellenic, we started well but then went sloppy, we didn’t win challenges and then we came into some trouble.
“It was a good test to see where we are now and it was difficult for the boys, and difficult for us as they haven’t had many games in their legs.
“We have to bring a good performance on the pitch and with all respect to Bonnyrigg, if we do our job right we will go through to the next stage.
“I believe in my team and that’s what I said before, if we do things right we will be in the next round.”
The Red & Black will be bolstered by the return of defender Josh Risdon and some new signings on Wednesday night with Babbel believing the team have learnt a lot from their first encounter together in the FFA Cup.
“We would be stupid if we didn’t learn from these games, of course, we have more weeks now in the legs and players in the squad,” said Babbel.
“Josh Risdon is back, Patrick Ziegler hasn’t played yet and Alexandar Baumjohann didn’t play against Hellenic.
“I think we have more quality in the team now and the others would be stupid if they didn’t learn from the game (against Hellenic).”
The Wanderers have had three weeks to prepare for Wednesday night’s clash against Bonnyrigg and Babbel insists that preparation has been no different than preparing for a Hyundai A-League opponent.
“It’s not a big difference, we showed two-three videos of them so now we have seen the structure of the team and we know what’s going on,” said Babbel.
“We have tried to prepare the team as much as possible, the focus is 100% there and it’s up to the boys to show the performance and what they can do.
“I’m very optimistic that if they bring the performance on the pitch and we are the better team, then we will create chances and we will score goals.
“Most important thing though is to win the challenges as they are a strong team and they go into these challenges.
“For them, it’s a big game and it’s the end of their season but they still have a fantastic game in front and their motivation will be at 100%.
“We must work on this, be physically strong to win the challenges and show the style of football we can play.
“First we will have to work hard, concentrate from the first minute on and then we will win the game.”
