Zerafa seeks payback, when Stripes take on City

by Ayrton Galea - 18th January 2016

Joseph Zerafa made it no secret that the last defeat against Valletta is still on his team's mind, and they will be all out to have their revenge next Wednesday, when they go head-to-head in the fourth round of the FA Trophy.

The determination of Joseph, who is one of the players who has been the longest with the Club, is evident every time he steps on the pitch, and his eagerness was also clear as he starts this interview talking about the upcoming big match.

“The only thing I can say about the Valletta game is that it's payback time. We made it very clear to the new players that this game is very important for us and hopefully they can give us an extra push with their quality and extra motivation.”

He added, “Valletta, in my opinion, were very lucky against us last game. Everything was going their way and luck helped them a lot. I could never imagine us getting that result, but hopefully that was a one-off.”

We asked Joseph about his first impressions of the new players, and he said, “The new signings are blending in very well with the team. In training they show great quality and hopefully they will show this quality in competitive matches. They are very motivated and I think that is what they have more than the players that they replaced.”

The Stripes not only brought new signings but also appointed Mr. Drazen Besek as the new Head Coach back in December. Joseph said, “The coach is very disciplined, as we expected and his training is of very high intensity. Training is very intense but always with the ball. We are training to have a more aggressive mentality especially without the ball. The coach is very down to earth, but when it comes to training there is no silly business, as it should be.”

A new coach and new signings inevitably brings a changed dressing room atmosphere, and Zerafa said, “The dressing room atmosphere has had a big change. We are more relaxed and we are back to the family we once were, and hopefully this will help the new players to blend in quicker.”

Joseph signed off this short interview with a comment about the Club's supporters. “Our supporters need no encouragement from me, because everyone knows how passionate our supporters are especially against our rivals. Hopefully we have a good crowd so we can start this new battle together, and finish it with achieving our goals.”

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