Soccer: No wholesale changes to Kingz line-up

By BOB PEARCE

Despite losing their first game of the season in the Australian National Soccer League last Sunday, Kingz coaches Wynton and Shane Rufer have opted to make minimal changes for the game against Eastern Pride at Ericsson Stadium tonight.

The only casualty from the starting line-up in the 0-2 loss to Sydney Olympic is German import Andy Bluhm, who failed to make any impact on his first outing for the club.

Dropped from the bench is Che Bunce, who has been battling back from injury and struggled in his 15 minutes on the field.

In their places come Melbourne-born Levent Osman, who made 23 appearances for the Kingz last season, and Chilean Aaron Silva, who was in and out of the side but still scored 11 goals.

With the team keen to reward their loyal fans and newly signed sponsors Vodafone, there is scoring power to spare in the 14-man squad, with Silva, Paul Urlovic, Tim Stevens and Dennis Ibrahim included.

Last season the Rufers were criticised for constantly fiddling with their starting line-up, even after good wins.

After the Kingz' lacklustre display in Sydney, they could have been forgiven for making wholesale changes. But that option is constrained by the match fitness of the players after a less-than-ideal build-up to the season.

The Kingz went into their first match with four games against top opposition; their opponents had 12, and it showed.

"I've looked at the video again. Our players were fit, but not match fit for this standard of play," Shane Rufer said. "Ibrahim had even less build-up because of an injury. He came off the bench for 20 minutes and he was knackered."

Last season's home clash with Eastern - then called Gippsland Falcons - was a dour 1-1 draw.

This season they started with a 1-1 draw against Newcastle.

Rufer expects the Victorians to come to Ericsson happy to settle for another draw.

"They will come here to fight for a point," he said. "They will get plenty of players behind the ball and they'll be well organised at set pieces.

"It's an important game for the club, our first home game.

"We need to do well to keep up the support of our fans. Last season the crowd fell sharply when we lost our first home game."

One thing Rufer wants from his players above all else is mental toughness and 100 per cent concentration for the 90 minutes.

"The two goals we gave up in Sydney came from lapses in concentration," he said. "This is a crucial game for us and we can't afford lapses."

The Kingz will train this morning before settling on their starting line-up for the game, which starts at 7.35 pm.

Kingz squad: Chris Marsh, Michael Cartwright, Ivan Vicelich, Riki van Steeden, Jonathan Perry, Chris Jackson, Harry Ngata, Aaron Lines, Tim Stevens, Levent Osman, Paul Urlovic, Aaron Silva, Dennis Ibrahim and Gerard Davis.