The new season kicks off when rivals Waitakere United take on Auckland City clash in the ASB Charity Cup opener at Fred Taylor Park on Sunday.
The match sees the ASB Premiership winners take on the ASB minor premiers in a one off tie, a game Robinson says lifting a trophy is the perfect boost for the campaign ahead.
“We will go into every game starting this Sunday with a total focus on winning.
“It is another trophy we want to win and we are at home so we need to take advantage of that,” he says.
Robinson has won three titles on the bounce with the West Aucklanders but put this Sunday’s showdown firmly into perspective.
“I think it is a game both teams will use to assess where they are at following a pretty long off-season. But a derby game is a derby game so I expect it to be a decent battle,” he says.
And Waitakere start the season under new guardianship with former Auckland City title-winning coach, Paul Marshall, now charged with masterminding a championship push for the Whenuapai outfit.
“The gaffer is very tactical and has a great understanding of the game and how to get the best out of individuals. We will be fully prepared for Auckland on Sunday.”
There will be some new faces lining up for the champions with Chad Coombes and David Mulligan making the switch across Auckland.
“Auckland City has a lot of quality. David Mulligan’s set pieces and Chad Coombes long range efforts always used to cause us problems in derby games, but luckily they are both with us this season,” Robinson says.
At Kiwitea Street, coach Ramon Tribulietx has quietly assembled a team packed with quality despite losing three New Zealand internationals, Coombes, Mulligan and Adam McGeorge to Team Wellington.
City face a fourth FIFA Club World Cup when they take on the J-League winners on December 6 in Yokohama.
But Tribulietx, as ever, remains focussed on one match at a time.
“There is a title to contend for on Sunday and it’s the first game of the season so we would like to start with a positive dynamic.
“Obviously our main focus for the first part of the season is the ASB Premiership but it would be good to start well and win the ASB Charity Cup again,” he says.
Auckland City’s main acquisition is that of Pedro Garcia, the former Sporting Gijon and Charleroi player.
At 29 years of age, Garcia is the peak of his abilities.
“Pedro has played top flight football in Spain for Sporting Gijon for a few years and recently in the Belgian Premier League for Sporting Charleroi,” Tribulietx says.
“He comes in to give us a bit of experience and cover in a few positions as he is very versatile.”
Keen to downplay the combative nature of the Super City derby, Tribulietx said there was rope for the losing team to recover from any early setbacks.
“The win will the give victorious team a positive dynamic to start the season but I think we are still in the early stages of competition and the losing team will recover quickly anyhow.
This Sunday’s clash is the 27th Super City derby at domestic level. Auckland has 15 wins, Waitakere seven, and there have been four draws.
The ASB Women’s League clash between Northern and Waikato Bay of Plenty will immediately follow the ASB Charity Cup match at 4pm.
ASB Charity Cup
Waitakere United v Auckland City
Fred Taylor Park, Auckland
Sunday 28 October
Kickoff: 2pm
Referee: Nick WALDRON
Waitakere United (from): 1-Daniel ROBINSON (gk), 2-Aaron SCOTT, 3-Jack BEGUELY, 4-Tim MYERS, 6-Matt CUNNEEN, 7-David MULLIGAN, 8-Chad COOMBES, 9-George SLEFANDORFAS, 10-Allan PEARCE, 11-Luiz DEL MONTE, 12-Roy KRISHNA, 14-Godwin DARKWA, 15-Salesh KUMAR, 16-Maksim MANKO, 17-Jake BUTLER (c), 18-Sam MATHEWS, 19-Dan MORGAN, 20-Ryan DE VRIES
Coach: Paul MARSHALL
Auckland City (from): 1-Jacob SPOONLEY (gk), 2-Simon ARMS, 3-Takuya IWATA, 4-Riki VAN STEEDEN, 5-Angel BERLANGA, 6-Jason HICKS, 7-James PRITCHETT, 8-Chris BALE, 9-Manel EXPOSITO, 10-Luis CORRALES, 11-Daniel KOPRIVCIC, 12-Tamati WILLIAMS (gk), 13-Alex FENERIDIS, 14-Adam DICKINSON, 15-Ivan VICELICH (c), 16-Albert RIERA, 17-Pedro GARCIA, 18-Liam ANDERSON (gk), 20-Emiliano TADE, 22-Andrew MILNE (two to be omitted)
Coach: Ramon TRIBULIETX
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand Football visit www.nzfootball.co.nz

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