Donachie taking nothing for granted on Victory return

Melbourne Victory defender James Donachie said he is fully aware he will have to fight for his place after re-joining the club on loan.

Donachie - who played as Victory won the 2018/19 A-League Grand Final - joined Korean outfit Jeonnam Dragons in the aftermath of that success.

But the K-League club’s relegation meant Donachie was looking for a new home and a loan move back to Victory - with Nick Ansell going in the other direction - was “the best match”, the 25-year-old said.

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Centre-back Donachie is not match fit yet, though, and said he could not expect to walk straight into the starting line-up of a high-flying Victory team that contains the likes of Thomas Deng, Georg Niedermeier and Leigh Broxham at the back.

“Any team, no matter what team you go to - I try to look at it as there’s always going to be competition,” he told reporters.

“It [team selection] is always based off performance.

“Whoever is playing better or training better will play.

“And if you’re not, you won’t have a chance. So that’s the way I look at it.

“I don’t ever come in and say I expect to play because then you’re already up against it before you’ve started. So we’ll see what happens.

“He [Broxham] has been playing really well … [there's] 'Dengy' and Giorg but 'Broxy''s in there as well and he's playing really well.”


Donachie said he was excited to be back in Victory colours but that he was only committing to being at the club for “six months”.

“It’s good to be back… really looking forward to getting into it,” he said.

“I’m here for six months… all I’ve thought about and I’ve spoke to the boss about is just coming back, getting fit as fast as I can and playing really well.

“That’s what I want to do. The better you play, the more options you have.

“And if you don’t, it’s the other way.

“Hopefully I can come in and play really well and see how the six months goes.”

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This article was originally published on the Hyundai A-League website.
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