By Tara Murray
Altona City is primed to step it up in the Victorian Premier League 2 competition the longer the season goes on.
It’s been a mixed start to the season for Altona, which has five wins and five losses in its first 10 games.
Coach Nick Georgopoulos said before the weekend’s match that considering the disruptions they’ve had, they’re happy with the position they find themselves in.
“It’s a really competitive league and we’ve been playing well,” he said. “We beat Nunawading a couple of weeks ago and then they knocked off the team on top of the ladder.
“That is how competitive it is. You have to be on your game.”
Georgopoulos said a couple of games they lost, they should have come away with the points as some red cards cost them.
He said other games had been close and it was a matter of one or two moments that were deciding the games.
On Friday, the Eagles lost to Springvale White Eagles, 3-1.
The Eagles led 2-1 at half time before Altona City had two players sent from the field after receiving two yellow cards each.
The Eagles scored a third goal late to seal the win.
Georgopoulos said before the weekend that they played an aggressive game which could cater for them not having any draws so far.
He said he had been quite proud of how the group had responded to every challenge thrown at them.
The biggest one has been the consistency within their squad.
“Our three visa players are either injured or suspended,” he said. “We have three other players injured.
“That’s six players from the starting line up if we were to play tomorrow. It has been a challenge.”
Georgopoulos said while it’s been tough with players out, they’ve been able to bring in a couple of younger players to make their debuts at 18 and 19.
He said they needed to start to find a bit of consistency as if you lose a couple of games, you could slip into the bottom part of the table.
“It’s been pretty good and we’re pretty happy considering the injuries and suspension.
“Once we get them back we will only improve.”
Altona City is back in action on Tuesday night in the Australia Cup.
As luck would have it, it is drawn to face the Eagles for a second time in less than a week.
In the National Premier League competition, Altona Magic lost to Avondale, 4-0, on Saturday
The Magic sits second bottom after 10 matches.
