MELBOURNE - Valentini won’t be taking part in the Avengers’ Australian Championship campaign due to a fall during an intraclub match that caused a bruised kidney. Despite the disappointment, he says he’s looking at the positives and is still very much a part of the group - even travelling to Sydney with the team last week.

“At the initial time I got told I was pretty gutted,” he admitted, “but when actually thinking about it and thinking about my body for the future [and] going into the NPL next year, I think it’s the best thing for me”.

“Throughout the year, I kind of had a few little injuries here and there which I was just nursing and trying to get through [the season],” he revealed.

“But I’m gutted; it’s hard to watch the boys play because I just want to be out there with them and trying to get results with them, but I’m around as much as I possibly can [be].”

From what Valentini has observed at training ahead of tonight’s crunch match against Preston at B.T Connor Reserve in Reservoir, he believes the Avondale players are ready to rise to the occasion.

“They’re pretty buzzing to be honest,” he said, “When you get to play a team like Preston, obviously a Victorian team and at Preston with their crowd … how can you not be excited and geed up for it?

“The boys are in good spirits … training’s being good.”

Preston are known for drawing massive crowds, and the context of tonight’s game - it being between two Melbourne teams as Preston are winless so far in the Championship - means Avondale are likely to have to get the job done with a vociferous crowd against them.

“There’s a lot of [Preston supporters] that come, and I think tomorrow in particular, Preston, [after] drawing against [NWS] Spirit and losing against Canberra Croatia, I think for them it’s obviously a massive game they need to win to really keep themselves alive in the group stage,” Valentini asserted.

“[Their supporters] add that little bit of oomph to the game for them to actually try and win, and we think they’ll come out in numbers, and they’ll be ready to go.

“They’re a good outfit and I think it’ll be a great game to watch.”

Last season’s two NPL matches against Preston yielded a win and a draw for Avondale, and Valentini thinks his side can take confidence from those results.

“Both games against them … were tough games,” he revealed. “I do think we controlled both games, but they’ve got weapons on the field, they’ve got some good forwards … [they’ve got] Oli Kubilay in the midfield, he kind of calms the game down.

“Any game against Preston’s going to always be tough, it’s just [about] who’s up for it on the day, and it’s whoever works harder as well, I think.”

A win for the Avengers would see them maintain top spot in Group C with seven points, and Valentini hopes a healthy contingent of Avondale supporters will be there to spur the team on.

“We want everyone to come out and watch and be there and support us,” he said.

“As players, you look for that as well. It feels good as a player … after games, singing songs with all the kids in the changeroom and all our supporters – it’s an unbelievable feeling for a player.

“So, we definitely would love to get good numbers there at our game.”

Kick-off is at 7:35 p.m. local time.