At just 14 years of age, Bonheur Rusagura will start for the men in purple as an attacking midfielder against an in-form Boomers outfit at Glen Park.

Melrose coach Josh Fluss said Rusagura had a great attitude and had earned his place in the line-up.

"He works hard, he doesn't miss training and he does all the right things," Fluss said.

"His technical ability is pretty good and a bit of experience in seniors I think is going to do him the world of good. He's only going to improve week to week and continue to develop with his knowledge of the game.

"I think he's got smarts and he's got a little bit of aggressiveness, which is hard to breed into the kids these days. He wants to be out there and he wants to win.

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"I've been looking for a few weeks to fit him in somewhere for that experience."

Fluss admitted some strong results early in the season had seen him go away from his youth-focused formula, but he wants to ensure that remains the key focus.

"We've taken a step back and he (Rusagura) deserves a chance and hopefully he takes it on and he grows with it," Fluss said.

"He'll be around the likes of Sam Graetz, Peter Donaldson and Adam Waters, so he's got a lot of experience there and the boys will help him along. He'll have a bit of protection, so hopefully he shows a bit of personality and plays with a bit of freedom."

Sam Andrew, Adam McLennan and Brodee Westerlo are all out of the team to face Boomers, but Fluss remains upbeat about his side's chances.

"I rate us against anyone on our day, I just don't think we've clicked yet or found that confidence to play against the top four teams," he said.

"Eventually it'll come. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when, and once it does, I think we're going to go a lot further than where we are now.

"We're concentrating on working towards a system and developing a few more boys over the next few weeks to look towards the back end of the season."

Elsewhere, Myrtleford will look to retain its place inside the top four with victory away to Albury City, Albury United takes on St Pats, Wangaratta plays host to Twin City, the winner of Wodonga Diamonds and Albury Hotspurs could find themselves in eighth spot by round's end, while Cobram has the bye.

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