Friday, 10 January 2003 12:00 AM
South Melbourne who are undefeated at home all season, will not only be looking to maintain their perfect record but also uphold their undefeated home advantage against Northern Spirit at Bob Jane Stadium this Sunday evening.
The Sydney Club has lost all four encounters at Lakeside since their establishment in 1998. South Melbourne’s largest winning margin against the Spirit was in season 2000/2001 when the Blue and Whites recorded a 6 – 2 victory in the final rounds of the season.
“We feel very disappointed in the manner in which we lost in the first half of the season match against Spirit. The players are looking forward to avenging the loss which came from a freak accident late in the game,” says Wright.
The Spirit who drew with Newcastle last week, has a squad that contains experience, in goalkeeper Henderson, the National Soccer Leagues most capped player Alex Tobin and Troy Cranney who has played over 250 NSL matches. Lawrie McInna’s squad who is currently sitting in second last position but have two matches in hand, will make life difficult for the home team as they desperately need a win to kickstart their season.
South Melbourne will conduct their last training session tomorrow morning in preparation for Sunday’s encounter. After last Sunday’s spirited away victory, the squad has been training very well and the competition within the squad has risen as players push for first team selection.
The match this week will kick off at 7.00PM, as will South Melbourne three remaining home games of the regular season.