Nine of Melbourne City’s 11 goals conceded this season have been in second halves, something defender Harrison Delbridge says must be fixed.
City’s games this season can described as ones of two-halves, with the Melburnians often blowing sides away in the first half only to see them ease the pressure late.
Despite only losing the one game so far, Delbridge says tightening up defensively has been a priority over the bye-week, especially ahead of this week’s meeting with Perth Glory.
‘Especially for us there’s been a lot of emphasis on the way we’re playing, but there needs to be an emphasis now on cutting out goals like that,” he said.
“I think there’s been a few times where either we’re up by a goal or two goals and not letting teams get a goal back on you is something we’re paying attention to.
“For defenders we want to be getting clean sheets and we haven’t had enough of those this year so it’s been a big priority for us and one we’ve focused on during the week and looking to fix that going forward.”
City will be coming off the bye when they host the Glory at AAMI Park, a venue where the side is yet to be defeated.
Friday night will also serve as Bruno Fornaroli’s return to AAMI Park since joining the Glory.
Despite the well-document animosity between Fornaroli and then head coach Warren Joyce, Delbridge believes the relationship between the City players and the Uruguayan is a positive one.
“I haven’t personally talked with him, but I know he’s still in touch with a lot of the other boys, he’s a good guy and we all had good relationships with him while he was here,” he said.
“No hard feelings but for us it’s just business and you can be friends with a lot of different players throughout the different teams in the league.
“For me as a defender that’s about making his night as difficult as possible and frustrating them and limiting opportunities for them.”
