Victory gun Velupillay sets sights on Auckland boilover
Nishan Velupillay is finding form for his club, scoring for his country and adamant Melbourne Victory can cause an A-League Men finals boilover.
Victory host premiers Auckland FC at AAMI Park in the first leg of their semi-final on Saturday.
After knocking off Western Sydney away in their elimination final, the Victory are high on confidence.
"The boys celebrated that win Saturday and we were happy the way we performed," Velupillay told AAP.
"We know we have to go up another level now to beat Auckland but we're very excited for the prospect on Saturday.
"That's the special thing about two legs - it evens out the game a little bit
"A home semi-final is really special. Hopefully the fans come out in numbers and we can produce a performance for them."
Velupillay has the prospect of contending for ALM silverware then heading to Perth and Jeddah for the Socceroos' crunch World Cup qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia.
"The games coming up for the Socceroos and the finals here, they're really good match-ups," he said.
"All the teams playing are really good teams.
"It's exciting and for us as players, the more football we get to play, the better. It's gonna be an exciting month ahead."
Velupillay, 24, had a red-hot start to the ALM season, scored on his first Socceroos appearance, then suffered an ankle injury.
But after building form and fitness, he's now got three goals in his five national team appearances, to go with seven for Victory this season.
"It's been a good year," he said.
"I've always believed in myself and I'm always looking to go to the next level.
"The opportunity to play at the national level is really important for me.
"I always believed in myself that I can match the level and it's up to me to keep improving, keep producing."
Velupillay is contracted for next season but overseas interest will no doubt come knocking.
But the 24-year-old is firmly focused on claiming an elusive championship.
"I've had two pretty good cracks at it with the boys the last couple of years and we've just fallen short," he said.
"For me, with this club, winning a piece of silverware is probably what I'd do to pay them back for everything they've done for me."
That starts with beating Auckland's defence, led by captain Hiroki Sakai.
"They're very good defenders, especially one-on-one and in a low block they tend to defend the box really well," he said.
"So it's our job to break them down and we've got some really creative players within the front line.
"It's a challenge but we relish a challenge.
"We've got a lot of threats, especially off the bench as well
"We've got a lot of special players, so if you stop one you have to try and stop the others as well."
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