Pascoe Vale captain Andre Caro says that his champion side will bounce back after two unexpected losses on Friday and Sunday.
The premiership leaders went down to Hume FC and FC Balwyn – the first time in six years that the club has lost two games in a row.
Caro, currently the leading goal scorer in the 2016/17 premiership, says that his team needs to regroup fast if they are to keep competition challengers Hume at bay.
“You can’t win every game, and we had two of our worst games in a row,” Caro told SeriesFutsal.com.
“On the positive, we only lost the games by one goal each, so now we look to bounce back for the final five games.
“We’re not used to losing games, but the good thing is that everyone is keen to get back out on the field and fix what went wrong.”
Caro said that a depleted list of players, including a season-ending injury for Richard Ferguson, is not ideal timing.
“One weakness we have is that we have had some players injured and not available. One week, we had five strong subs, the next we have nothing,” Caro said.
“Joao (da Silva) has been in and out of the team with injury, and Richie’s injury has come at a critical time.”
Pascoe Vale will take its famous arch-rival Fitzroy this Friday evening, playing for the traditional Youth Health Cup.
A loss for Pascoe Vale and a win for Hume will see the two club’s level on points, and Caro says that this game is one of the most important of the season.
“The big classic against Fitzroy could go either way. We can bounce back and get our season on track, or it’s going to go downhill,” he said.
“We have five matches left, and we need to treat all of them like Grand Finals, but we must focus on one game at a time.”