Wanderers head coach Dean Heffernan admits he has had to “pull the hand break” on his team as they prepare for the first Westfield W-League Sydney Derby on Friday night.
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The Red & Black will confront their biggest test of the season against the defending champions Sydney FC in the first women’s Sydney Derby of the season at Bankwest Stadium.
It should be an exciting and willing contest with Heffernan’s side going great guns in an unbeaten four-game start to the season while Sydney have won four of their five outings.
“Without giving away too much, the players know what’s at stake, it’s a big game,” said Heffernan.
“It’s a huge game for the club, a huge game for our team and something we have been looking forward to for a while.
“If anything we kind of had to pull the hand break a bit in training this week because they are ready now … they were ready last week for this game.”
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Both sides have already shown they will be major players in the race for the W-League title this season, but Heffernan has no doubt his team can more than match it with their rivals even if the Red & Black have managed just one win in 12 games against them down the years.
“There is something about this team, they have a lot of resilience, a lot of character,” said Heffernan.
“Everyone knows we got the wooden spoon last year and that we have never made the finals, so there is that little tag.
“It is slowly changing and we enjoy that and we are looking forward to making a statement on Friday.”
As for the poor record against Sydney, Heffernan says records are meant to be broken. Certainly, his side has already gone about ensuring they have cast aside a few unwanted records.
“Look, I wouldn’t know if the players are aware of the situation because it is not something we are going to bring up to be honest,” added Heffernan,
“As I have said in the past, we want to create history, yes. But, regardless of the result, we are going to create history on Friday.
“It is a new team, there’s something there. It’s a Derby. Everyone knows what a Derby is like to play in. It’s a Sydney Derby, the first one for us this season so it’s exciting and we will definitely be up for it.”
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Understandably, the Wanderers boss has huge respect for Sydney, a club that knows how to win titles.
They have a quality squad full of overseas and local international players.
“Sydney have been in form, they are a great side – a side we have a lot of respect for, but we definitely feel we have a team that can push them all the way,” Heffernan said.
