Tara Murray
St Albans Saints are hoping to bounce back from a slow start to the National Premier League season.
The Saints are yet to taste victory, with one win and three losses from the first four rounds.
Saints football operations manager Jason Xerri said they know the start hasn’t been what they had been hoping for.
“It hasn’t been a brilliant start, it is what it is,” he said. “It’s still early doors and we have a task to rectify it.
“It’s been a challenging start to the year no doubt. We put in a couple of pretty good performances in the first two games.
“A few things have not worked out in the last couple of games.”
Xerri said they always knew that it would take a bit of time to come together this season with a new squad, but it had taken longer than they would have liked.
“It’s evident that some of the boys that started later in the pre-season for various reasons,” he said.
“It’s taking longer for things to click together as we would have liked. There’s been a lot of hard work done before the season started.
“There was a big shift in personnel and it does take some time. There’s still some work to be done to get a couple of guys even sharper.”
Despite the disappointing results, Xerri said the dressing room was still pretty positive. He said they were focusing on what is ahead of them, not the games they’ve already played.
“It’s one of those things you get one game and you get a bit of confidence,” he said. “Every week we go out there to get three points and this week isn’t any different.
“We do understand that there’s still many games to go, but if you fall behind too far, you can’t come back.”
The Saints are back in action on Sunday at home against Moreland City, after deadline.
“Always have a pretty good tussle throughout the years in NPL1 and NPL2,” Xerri said.
“They’ve been pretty good over the years irrespective of where they are on the ladder.
“It’s always a tough game and we don’t expect anything less.”
In other matches on the weekend, Green Gully was set to face Altona Magic on Friday night and the Melbourne Knights were due to face Dandenong City on Sunday.
In the Victorian Premier League 1 competition, Caroline Springs George was set to face Bulleen Lions, while North Sunshine Eagles started their VPL2 season on Sunday against Doveton.
