Football
AAP 7y

Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat furious with A-League scheduling

Coach Kevin Muscat can't understand why Melbourne Victory has been so "severely disadvantaged" by the rescheduling of last month's earthquake-affected match against the Wellington Phoenix.

Victory has been handed a nightmare A-League assignment early in the new year with the round seven clash at Westpac Stadium to be played on Tuesday, January 17 -- four days before another away assignment in Perth Glory.

Muscat is fully aware of the complexities surrounding A-League fixturing but said it was an "illogical" decision to make.

"There's no direct flight to Perth [from Wellington]. So you've got to come back. Those things obviously don't bear too much weight in the discussion," he said.

"It's disappointing, that week is going to be a difficult week for us.

"The circumstances of the game that was postponed, we accept that and our condolences go out to everyone in New Zealand. But all of a sudden, within the fixtures now, we've been severely disadvantaged.

"They're the cards we've been dealt. I'm over it now.

"Rather than worry about it and cry about it, we're going to have to roll our sleeves up and do it the right way."

Muscat said he will leave it to his conditioning staff to determine the best way to handle the situation.

"The reality is, players simply won't be able to do it. It's just a fact -- a four-day break from Wellington to Perth," he said.

"[But] there's no greater satisfaction than winning to Wellington and going to Perth and winning there, and doing it the hard way because no one else thinks you can do it.

"That gives me some severe motivation."

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