Western Sydney Wanderers coach Carl Robinson has confirmed that new foreign signings Tomás Mejías and Keijiro Ogawa are set to feature in the FFA Cup Round of 32 match against NPL side Broadmeadow Magic.
“Yes they will be involved in the 18 [man squad] that will travel so there is a good chance that they will be in action at some point” Robinson said speaking to the media this afternoon.
Despite both players having only been training with the squad for a week, the Welshman is confident that they will be able to make a key contribution as the Wanderers begin their FFA Cup journey.
“They have got some talented young players full of energy, legs. So it’s gonna be a difficult game for us, we’re under no illusions, whenever cup competitions come around, there’s always that drama so we’ve got to make sure we concentrate on what our game is about, how we control the game and how we can inhibit their strengths as well.”
Robinson has given many youngsters the chance to impress in pre-season, and that send is set to continue, as it will be a youthful squad that will make the trip up the M1 to Newcastle, though he has included a dash of experience to ensure the Wanderers get the job done.
“There’s a number of players that have played in pre-season, you will see more younger players tomorrow. But, you will also see some senior players as well because it is an important cup game for us, as well as a number of players missing through injury, which we can’t help, and that opens the door for a lot of our other talented youngsters who we will get to see tomorrow.”
These injuries mean that there will be some slight tweaks, yet Robinson says the broad tactical structure is set to remain the same.
“It’s mostly business as usual, there’s one or two little adjustments which we’ll make based on the players that come in because I’ll try to put them in the position that best suits their strengths rather than their weaknesses. But we will stick to our clear identity, we know how we want to play with and without the ball and we know what we need to do.”
Robinson has assembled a strong squad for the upcoming season, and he is keen to ensure that the Wanderers can make as much progress in the cup competition as possible.
“Anytime you go into any competition, you’ve got to go in with the mentality that you’re gonna try and win it. We’ve never won this competition before and we want to win it. You’ll see that there’s not many times where you get to be able to win a trophy and so when you get the chance you’ve got to fully focus and fully commit to it.”
Image Supplied: Michael Turner/Western Sydney Wanderers
