Wangaratta can ill afford to get complacent.
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The Devils recorded a monumental win against arch rivals Myrtleford last weekend, bringing an end to the Savoys one-year unbeaten streak, but face another of the competition’s form sides in Melrose on Sunday.
Adding extra pressure is the fact they will be without several proven goal-scorers for the clash.
Adam Burchell has departed the club for Goulburn Valley Suns in NPL 2, Raff Molinaro suffered a knee injury last weekend and will miss, Stuart Vance requires minor knee surgery, while George Elkotta has six weeks to serve on a suspension and has been approached to play for the Suns’ under 20s.
Captain Stoycho Ivanov is also out after two yellow cards against Myrtleford, while fellow centre back Ori Kara tweaked his hamstring.
But Wangaratta coach Mario Antonello remains upbeat about his side’s chances.
“I might have a little surprise in store for Melrose this week,” he said.
“We’ve got a couple more guys who will join our squad in the next week and we’ll be fine.
“Melrose are a good side, they’ve got a good bunch of boys at the right age group.
“It should be a good game and hopefully things go our way.
“We just need to keep winning, if we don’t drop a game, we win the league.
“That’s the same with Myrtleford and it’s probably the same with Melrose.”
Ivo Madeira has been training well and is a chance to return, while Joel van der Leeuw and Ryan Vandersteeg are in the mix to start.
Melrose coach Kade Rixon said there should be no excuses from his side after its 7-0 thrashing of St Pats, compared to Wangaratta after its hard-fought derby.
“They were a bit one-dimensional with Burchy (Adam Burchell) and (Connor) Heffernan, but this year with no Burch or Heffernan, it’s a bit unpredictable,” Rixon said.
“It’s probably a bit scary for us, but we’ll go out and do what we want to do and adjust to whatever they bring out.”
Rixon has missed the last two games, Morgan Payne and Alex Gorka have been sidelined with injury, while Trent Rixon is set to return next weekend.
“We’ve played a lot of blokes so far, so I wouldn’t know what our best 11 is,” Rixon said.
“I can’t really say we’re missing players because we’ve had blokes come in that keep playing their role.
“We’ve got a young kid up front (Josh Corbett) who’s 16-years-old and has scored in his last five games and Nick Musarra has scored five or six from left midfield.
“Not to say he’s going to take Trent’s spot, but he’s definitely doing his job for us.”