With only a month remaining in the National Premier League Two east division campaign for the Goulburn Valley Suns, every clash is vital. The Suns remain six points and a healthy eight goals above the drop to NPL3, but coach Craig Carley and his troops are keen to put their future beyond mathematical doubt as soon as possible.
That quest continues at Geelong Soccer Club’s Stead Park today from 5.30 pm, with three points the prize the Suns are after. ‘‘We’re pretty realistic with where we’re at,’’ Carley said. ‘‘We probably need one more win to shore up our position in NPL2, so we’ll be heading to Geelong looking to get that win.’’
Geelong has had a change at the top this week, with assistant coach Gabriel Markaj stepping up to replace the outgoing Domenic Barba, but Carley wants his troops to focus on the task out on the pitch. Last time out the Suns lost 1-0 to Whittlesea and will be looking to rectify that result.
‘‘They’ve had a change of coach mid-week so that can go either way, but we’ll still go there with full confidence in our ability to get the three points,’’ Carley said. ‘‘They’re pretty similar to Whittlesea, we’ve done a lot of analysis on them and we feel like we’ve got a pretty good game plan going into the game.
‘‘Hopefully we can execute it, but we’re under no illusions as to how tough it will be.
‘‘James Lelliott will still be missing, and we really missed Billy Marshall against Whittlesea, he’s a key focal point through midfield for us and it will be great to have him back. ‘‘We’ll have a slight change in formation, it’s something we’ve been working on this week, but the boys are raring to go and hopefully we can come away with a win.’’
The under-20 Suns start at 3.15 pm today and will be full of confidence after a 5-3 win against Whittlesea in their last outing.
