Victory coach Jeff Hopkins is taking the positives out of the AFC Championships, after his side slumped to 4-0 and 5-0 losses against their South Korean and Japanese opponents respectively, punctuated by 1-1 draw against Chinese club Jiangsu Suning.

It was a tough break for the club, that now come back into the W-League throng having played three matches and travelled extensively throughout their break. But Hopkins is hoping to become a better team for the experience.

"We got the players together yesterday (Tuesday) and did a recovery session, got the legs going and then we trained this morning, had a good, sharp session, did a bit of work on a few things that we saw in Korea, but also things that are relevant for the weekend as well," Hopkins said.

"We had a good session this morning and I guess the real positive coming out of the games in Korea were that we got some good game minutes into a lot of people and came away without any real injuries as well so we've got just about a full squad to choose from so that's a real positive for us.
"You've got to really put it into context as well (facing teams full of internationals).

"We're not going to get carried away one away or the other, in a positive or negative way, but definitely we sat down and had about a half an hour meeting yesterday, just things that we most probably can take out of the experience and things hopefully we can put in place to make us a better team, which is one of the goals of going over there."

In addition to the added levels of fitness Victory can hope for after a short preseason, Hopkins is hoping that playing against top quality opponents and giving minutes to the entire squad can give the Big V an advantage.


"It's a big part of it," he said. "The club were really good, they allowed us to take extra players with us so we took the whole squad with us.

"I think that was very important that we didn't leave two or three players behind, we took them all even though they weren't able to play, they were able to be around the group and the team spirit and comradery was built over there and that was really important.

"Game minutes were important as well. We had three games to get minutes into Rosie Sutton, who had limited games in pre-season, Lia Privitelli, Emma Robers and we were even lucky enough to get some game time into Alana Jancevski and Paige Zois as well.

"Also, then looking at (Melissa) Maizels as well, it was her first game as well. Lots of positives in terms of game time."

Their next test however, is against W-League high-flyers Western Sydney Wanderers who have proven to be very difficult opponents under new coach Dean Heffernan and boast the strongest lineup of imports in the league.

"They've recruited very well, they've started the season well and it's going to be a real test for us, but it's something the team are really looking forward to as well," Hopkins continued.

"I think we go back to the Brisbane game and we came out of that game feeling pretty positive with the performance and with the result and looking at the Brisbane game against Western Sydney, Brisbane caused them quite a few problems as well.

"We understand they're a good side, they're a strong, physical side, they transition very, very well, very quickly, but they're definitely a team we feel we can cause problems for as well so it's going to be a good challenge and we're looking forward to it."