Tara Murray
Melbourne Knights have shown some positive signs in the first three weeks of the National Premier League, now the next step is getting a win.
The Knights are without a win in the first three rounds, but two draws and dominant performance against South Melbourne has shown they’re on the right track.
Knights coach Ben Cahn said the signs had been good early.
“We knew when the draw came out that it was going to be tough,” he said.
“We had the Croatian derby, then Oakleigh [Cannons] and South Melbourne, last year’s two grand finalists.
“We haven’t got the results we wanted. The second half against Oakleigh was good and the full 90 minutes against South Melbourne we put in a dominant performance.
“We keep playing like that the results will come.”
Cahn said they know they aren’t far from turning those results into wins. He said the feedback given after the South Melbourne 2-1 loss on Monday night was really positive.
“We play that game 10 times, we will likely win it nine times,” he said.
“We need to keep working hard and keep improving. It’s only the small details.”
With a different side to 12 months ago, it was always going to take time for the Knights to gel and click.
The attacking unit is one area where they need to find more opportunities.
“None of them have played together before this season,” he said. “We knew it would take some time, but once it starts to click we will be hard to stop.
“We need to be more aggressive in the front half and get a few more shots off. We need to be more aggressive attacking the box at the right time.”
Despite a winless start to the season, Cahn said the group had remained positive and hungry to get those results on the board.
The Knights are set to face Bentleigh Greens on Sunday in round four.
Cahn said they wouldn’t be taking their foot off the pedal.
“They’re another big club and they haven’t had a good start to the season,” he said. “We need to start with a lot of intensity and get that first win on the board.
“Then we have Port Melbourne, another team that is expected to be in the top two or three. If we can put in the same performances as we did in the second half against Oakleigh and South Melbourne, hopefully we get the win.”
Green Gully, which is 1-2 after three rounds, are set to face Port Melbourne Sharks on Friday night, while St Albans, which has one win and two draws are set to face Hume City on Saturday night.
