Mark Bridge is Sydney FC’s leading goalscorer against the Melbourne Victory but the striker wants a win over the Sky Blues arch rivals more then anything.
Striker Mark Bridge is Sydney FC’s leading goalscorer against the Melbourne Victory.
The 25-year-old has found the back of the net five times in matches against Melbourne but admits he would sacrifice one this weekend for the teams first win.
This week the Sky Blues embarked on a two-day team-bonding session at Terrigal this week, invited some fans to come and speak to the players on Monday – an experience which the players greatly appreciated.
“We have a core group of supporters who come whether we win or lose. These fans know what they are talking about and they understand that we-re putting the effort in. They told us that they supported us through thick and thin and explained what it meant to be part of our group. We felt very privileged to hear that, not many of the players have had that experience before so it was excellent,” said Bridge.
The striker, who lists his favourite goal as the one against Melbourne in last year-s Grand Final, maintained that the fans can play a major role as Sydney FC look to resurrect their season.
“We appreciate all of the fan-s support. The fans have been unbelievable and we cannot thank them enough. We need the crowd, especially in tough games. Anybody can support a successful team, but it-s very difficult to support a team that-s not winning – even when we are playing well.”
According to Bridge, the team-bonding session provided a perfect opportunity to spend some time together and discuss ways to improve results.
“It was really good to spend the days as a team and talk about a few things. We needed to get away from the stress and we-ve been copping it a bit in the media as well. It-s definitely had a positive impact, the intensity in training has been crazy this week, and it-s been like a match. We-re working very hard, and we-ll keep trying until we get it right.”
And while it-s been a torrid start to the season, Bridge says that there would be no better feeling than turning their season around against rivals Melbourne Victory.
“We-ve been playing well but we-re missing that element of luck. I don-t think its complacency; it-s just that little lack of concentration and being punished for it.”
“We couldn-t find better opposition to turn our luck around against. It-s difficult coming off the field and then going into the changing room after the game, we haven-t had any loud moments in the changing room yet, but hopefully that will change this weekend.”
