The heat is on as City look to keep run going

Football in Australia is literally a world away from England but that doesn’t seem to faze Melbourne City manager Warren Joyce.

With temperatures soaring above 40 degrees this week in the Victorian capital and a flurry of games to play during the Hyundai A-League’s Summer of Heroes, you could forgive City for being slightly off their game.

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Not under Joyce’s watch however and the Englishman revealed the secret to ensuring his side would extend their three-match unbeaten run when they face Newcastle Jets on Sunday.

“The recovery part is important, we do the right things, it’s important that we’ve still got the same energy levels to drive the games like we’ve been doing,” Joyce told melbournecityfc.com.au.

“Today’s a little bit different with the heat, we’ve had to adjust training a little bit which is another component that you’ve got to deal with but we’ve got to treat it like nothing’s the problem.

“There’s not much time in between the games for training and preparation so it’s a matter of keeping players’ minds right and trying to go into games as fresh as we possibly can.”

That approach has certainly paid dividends over the festive period with City enjoying a dominant 2-0 victory away to Western Sydney Wanderers, a result made all the more impressive after being reduced to 10 men.

“I thought the spirit was tremendous, obviously you go down to 10 men, nobody likes to do that but we were in a good position in the game,” Joyce said.

“They’re the home side, a decent side as well, we’re under the cosh a little bit, [it was] tremendous spirit and work ethic and desire to see the game out.”

City welcome a determined Jets side to AAMI Park with Ernie Merrick’s men sure to be fired up after two frustrating draws in recent weeks.

For Joyce however, the focus remains as ever on the simple goals.

“We want to win every game this season, every game we play we want to win so the focus is on that,” he said.

“[It’s] exactly the same that we want to do our jobs with and without the ball and start the game well and give the fans something to cheer about.”