It’s been just over a month since the Duke of Western Sydney returned to Wanderland and the Red & Black have been on an upward trajectory ever since.
It’s been just over a month since the Duke of Western Sydney returned to Wanderland and the Red & Black have been on an upward trajectory ever since.
With two goals in five games to his name so far this season, Duke is just ramping up for what is set to be another big season for the 30-year-old striker.
“For me, I’m a little bit disappointed that I’m probably a bit slower that what I thought I would have been getting back to full fitness,” said Duke.
“I’m yet to play out a full 90 minute game and I had to ask to come off on Monday night, had a bit of a niggle in my left leg.
“I’m quite disappointed with my level yet but I’ll keep working hard in training to get back to that 90 minutes of fitness.”
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Duke played an instrumental role in the Wanderers epic fixture against Wellington Phoenix on Monday night.
The forward was not only heavily involved in creating plenty of chances, but also scored the third equaliser in the match.
Looking ahead to tonight’s match, the Wanderers will be looking to continue building momentum after securing back-to-back wins.
“We just need to keep building our momentum, you see some teams like Adelaide and Melbourne City getting three and four wins on the bounce,” explained Duke.
“We will need to do that.“
So that’s our challenge to ourselves now, we’ve got two now and we look to Perth on Friday night.
“It’s just about getting those wins, especially at home now that we have back-to-back games.”
The wins at home are vital for the Red & Black to continue building their character and the result against Wellington was proving of that.
“We haven’t been getting enough wins at home, so we’ve got another win now at Bankwest,” said Duke.
“The way we did it as well, coming back from a goal down three times and then to go on and win it is massive character.
“We can take a lot of confidence from that any time we concede we know we can come back into the game and go on and win it.
“We take a lot from that game and hopefully we can build on that.”
Duke has seen a major shift in the Wanderers character and mentality under the new guard of head coach Carl Robinson and his assistant Kenny Miller.
“Carl has been amazing, I’m really enjoying working under him and Kenny,” said Duke.
“There’s definitely a difference in mentality. A big shift in that as well as the intensity in training.
“It’s been another level compared to last season which has been good.”
