Egger fired up for Blacktown City battle

Manly United has issued a warning to their playoff finals rivals ahead of this weekend’s semi-final matchup with Blacktown City.

Defender Leigh Egger, who scored in Manly’s Elimination Semi-Final victory against Sydney Olympic last week, says his side is the league’s team to beat and shouldn’t be underestimated.

“We have decisively beaten almost every team in this competition and our rivals should be scared of us and and on watch throughout the finals series,” Egger said.

“No matter who we play we are confident we have what it takes to win.

“We have already beaten Blacktown this season and I believe that gives us a bit of a mental edge ahead of Saturday’s match.

“There is a great atmosphere around the club and we feel pretty unstoppable at the moment.

“For me it was a nice feeling to score against Olympic and even more so because I was able to help my team progress.

“Blacktown will be a different test altogether but we will take a lot from the performance last week and build on it.”

The 23-year-old said, despite some inconsistent results during the middle of the season, he believes his side is built for Championship success.

“We have 18 players of a very high calibre and everyone is capable of putting in a huge performance if called on.

“I always knew once we clicked as a team that we would be a force to be reckoned with and, with the exception of our loss to APIA a few weeks ago, we have been arguably the form team of the competition over the past eight weeks.

“As a group we are driven and very determined to win so I think we have all the ingredients to finish the season with some silverware.”

Egger predicts Saturday’s semi-final will go right down to the wire.

“Blacktown play a similar style to us and I expect a tight, high quality game,” he said.

“We are at a point of our season now where we know whether we score in the 30th or the 90th minute we can still win it.

“I don’t think this match will necessarily be won in the first half but it will come down to which side makes the most of their chances.

“At the end of the day we are confident in our ability and if we play to what we are capable of then we should come away on top.”