SHANGHAI SIPG star Asamoah Gyan has warned that his team’s star-studded attack is only going getting stronger after a miss-firing Asian debut in Melbourne.
Melbourne Victory upset Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side 2-1 in the Asian Champions League opener seven weeks ago but the Chinese powerhouse have lost just one of their eight games since in all competitions.
Ghanaian star Gyan forms part of arguably the Chinese Super League’s most dangerous attacking quartet along with Brazilian Elkeson, Argentine whiz Dario Conca and local speedster Wu Lei.
Having scored 13 goals since, Gyan warned Victory SIPG were a different proposition to the one they faced at AAMI Park.
“We can only get better,’’ Gyan said.
“We just started the season when we last played, you can’t judge players on one game.
“Elkeson just joined the group and even now he’s still adapting.
“The future is bright, we have a good team.’’
Gyan came off in the Victory loss with a strained hip flexor but has since returned to make five appearances, though two have been off the bench.
Having scored just one goal this season Gyan, who came on at half-time of the 1-0 win over Guangzhou R&F last weekend which lifted Shanghai to third in the CSL, said he needed to lift.
“The problem is me, I need to get back to my best because the team needs my services,’’ he said.
Shanghai’s three Asian wins have seen them shoot to the top of the group on nine points, three ahead of second-place Victory (six) making tonight’s game decisive.
Gyan conceded he was impressed by Kevin Muscat’s side in their opening encounter.
“The standard is good, we watched their videos and knew what to expect but they know how to play and press,’’ Gyan said.
“They’re a solid team and I don’t think we played a bad game and since then we’ve turned things around.
“We lost and there were no excuses but we didn’t play bad and we went away and worked on our mistakes and since we’ve come along strongly and had some wins.
“It was disappointing to lose, but Melbourne is a good team. We came back and had some chances.’’