Tara Murray
Keilor Wolves are backing last year’s squad to go one better in the FV state league 4 west competition.
After dominating much of the 2022 season having earned promotion from state league 5 west, the Wolves fell away late in the season.
The Wolves finished second, two points behind Westside Strikers, who earned promotion.
Wolves coach Sofiane Soufi said the group was focused on the task at hand with promotion the aim for the group.
“We have a pretty similar group to last year,” he said. ”We have one or two different.
“We want to produce what we did last year for 22 weeks, not 19 weeks. Every game is game of the year.
“We can’t wait to be out there. We thought we deserved to win the title, but credit to Westside Strikers, who kept on winning from behind us.”
Soufi said the group had been working hard since pre-season started to be ready for the first whistle which is next month. Fixtures were yet to be released as of Wednesday.
“We had three weeks in December and then a break over Christmas,” he said.
“We came back the second week in January and done a lot of work on fitness, so there are some heavy legs.
“You get that feeling in friendly games.”
The Wolves were set to play their first official match of the match on Saturday in the first round of the Australia Cup.
The Wolves won through to the next round, beating Apsendale 5-1.
The Wolves made it through to the sixth round last year.
“We play Aspendale, which is one division lower,” Soufi said. “The cup brings a lot of emotions.
“You get the opportunity to test yourselves against higher levels and bigger clubs. It’s what you play football for.”
After the success of the last couple of seasons, Soufi said they were setting other areas in the club group.
He said there’s a real positive vibe at the club.
“Our juniors are growing, which is a positive,” he said. “There’s more juniors wanting to come to the club, which is great.”
