MELBOURNE Victory players were meant to be flying to Wellington on Thursday and instead will now spend the weekend at home.
But defender Nick Ansell says the postponement of Saturday’s fixture against the Phoenix won’t have a negative impact on the momentum garnered from last week’s 3-0 win over Western Sydney.
Sections of Westpac Stadium were damaged by Monday’s 7.5 magnitude earthquake that struck New Zealand’s south island, forcing the game to be called off.
Victory’s next game is now not until Saturday week - at home to Newcastle - but Ansell said the club’s strength and conditioning staff would not allow a drop in match fitness or sharpness to occur.
The team will train on Thursday morning, Friday morning and Saturday at Gosch’s Paddock.
“Last week’s game was a big game for us and a good result,” Ansell said.
“But I think a week off will actually be a little bit of a benefit now to get some rest because, including pre-season and the first few rounds, it has been pretty tough.
“All the boys will use the days we aren’t playing to maximise recovery for the following week.”
For the nine current players who were in the 2014-15 title-winning squad, the sudden loss of a game is not foreign to them.
“The same thing happened against Brisbane a couple of years ago when we were up there and then the game got called off because of the cyclone,” Ansell said.
“I actually said that to someone today. And then we’ve got that experience of playing in the Champions League this year so, whenever the game gets fixtured, we’ll have no problem backing up for a midweek game that’s for sure.”
