Melbourne Victory youngster Matt Foschini is gaining plenty of confidence by being involved with the first team in the past month.
The versatile 20-year old, who signed a new one-year deal this week, has made five of this season's six A-League appearances since January 15 and admits Victory coach Ernie Merrick's faith in him is starting to shine through with much-improved performances on the pitch.
"It's been a huge confidence boost to be a part of the first team squad for the last month or so and I guess it's due to a couple of things; injuries and my form at training and in the youth league," he told tribalfootball.com.
"I've really put my head down and wanted to get back in the first team because I've had a taste of it and now want to be playing in the seniors week in week out."
And as Foschini's form has picked up, so has the fortunes of the team which secured a finals berth with three wins in their past three outings and an undefeated streak of five matches. This Friday they meet arch rivals Adelaide United in the final match of the regular season and a win is certainly what the club is aiming for.
"Our form has obviously been great the past month or so and it's due to the fact that the team is playing well together as a unit and we are finding form at the right time of the season. With key players still to return I really think we will have a great chance come finals time," he added.
"Our last regular season game should be an exciting one and one that we want to win so that we can carry our good form into the finals campaign. Adelaide is always a tough place to go to but we are confident that we can get a result."
This season, the two-time A-League champions have been the only team to really worry (and beat) runaway league leaders Brisbane Roar which gives them every conceivable chance heading into the playoffs but Foschini said there is plenty to do before even entertaining the thought of taking on the minor Premiers.
"We cannot afford to look that far ahead, we have to win 2-3 finals matches before we even get a chance at playing Brisbane," he said further. "We just need to focus on playing good football on a week to week basis and continue to have confidence as a group that we can win finals matches.
"Most of the Victory players have a lot of finals experience so that should hold the squad in good stead come finals time."
