Fresh from booking its place in the sixth round of the Hahn Australia Cup with a 5-2 victory over local rivals Murray United midweek, the Shepparton side will be chasing all three points on the road down at Costas Mitre 10 Park.
In round 10, the Suns put in a measured performance at home against VPL2 ladder pacesetter Malvern City, to move to remain six points adrift of the league summit and keep their title challenge alive.
However, maintaining consistency will be the key to whether Carley’s charges are able to close the gap on the frontrunners in what remains of the campaign.
Coming into the clash, the Suns are currently sitting in third in the table, with Bayside Argonauts currently occupying second spot behind Malvern after a run of four wins in their previous five outings.
Meanwhile, Werribee has rallied back in recent weeks after a run of three games without a win to put back-to-back victories together – leaving them ninth in the league ladder.
Now, Suns boss Carley has sized up the threat posed by the Bees as he looks to avoid getting stung on this gruelling 400km round trip down to Melbourne.
“It’s a quick turnaround for the boys, we’ll do some recovery and then get back into training before Werribee, with all attention on that,” he said, following the recent win in the Australia Cup.
What certainly is in the Suns’ favour coming into this fixture is their exemplary attacking record – with the GV forward line having scored the joint top amount of goals in the whole division this season, with 25.
By contrast, the Bees have conceded the second-most strikes in the league this term with 19 – with rock-bottom Moreland City the only team that has leaked more.
“It’s a tough place to go and a tough place to play football and they’re a very organised and well-drilled team,” Carley said, as he paid the weekend’s hosts respect before the away clash.
“We need to be at our very best to pick up the points but every game in this league is difficult.”
Regardless of the long trip down to Werribee, Carley is eager to stress the need for his troops to maintain the high standards that have been so central to his team’s success in recent times.
“We need to keep the standard that we’ve been setting, if we’re going to achieve what we’ve set out to do this year,’’ he said.
“Those long trips do take their toll and it’s an added component that we do need to put into our schedules every second week.”
The GV Suns will face Werribee City in round 11 of the VPL2 season, with kick-off from 3pm on May 2 from Costas Mitre 10 Park.
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