Essendon Royals Coach’s Comment: Ferrante full focus on Saturday

Essendon Royals Senior Men’s Coach Mick Ferrante is leaving no stone unturned as he looks to steer the Royals to their first NPL3 win of the season.

“I’m disappointed with the way we’ve started. I’m not going to lie about that,” he said.

“But on the flip side, we’ve not been played off the park and we’ve not been at our best. In each game, we’ve had very good chances at crucial times that – if we score – completely change the game.

“So we need to score those chances and we need to be tighter at the back.”

Ferrante said that whilst he didn’t feel like last week’s defeat to Nunawading City was a 3-0 loss performance, he wanted to ensure a result like that did not happen again.

“Maybe it didn’t look like a 3-0 game, but that’s what it was at the end of the day. It’s a tough one to swallow, but it’s not the time to be making drastic changes,” he said.

“We will tinker until we get it right, but we’ve been in all the games and we’ve made the chances we need to. We’re not far off.”

Ferrante acknowledged that there were no gimmes in NPL3, but the challenge of taking on an in-form Geelong SC in Geelong was a particularly tough test.

“They’ve won two from two, and when you factor in the travel, it’s a tough game,” he said.

“For us, we’re just focused on preparing ourselves as best as possible.”

Ferrante said that despite the Club’s Australia Cup campaign kicking-off mid-week against South Springvale, he was fully focused on Saturday’s game.

“We need to focus completely on Saturday and adjust for the cup after that.”