Raphael Borges Rodrigues was barely given a sniff at Melbourne City and the talented winger is keen to prove to his old teammates how he’s gone to another level since making the switch to Macarthur.
Raphael played just 11 A-League Men games across four seasons at City, but has gone on to become a mainstay of Mile Sterjovski’s Bulls outfit this campaign.
The eye-catching 20-year-old, who will likely be in discussions for Olyroos selection, has scored three goals and laid on two assists in his first full season at Macarthur.
And Raphael is keen to continue the Bulls’ rise up the table when they host City in Campbelltown on Friday.
“I’m happy that I’m playing and getting as much game time as I can,” said Raphael, whose side could move up to third with victory.
“I hadn’t played consistently for the last couple of years.
“I’ve played basically every single game and I’m happy I’m playing.
“Mile believed in me 100 per cent and he knew I was ready to play and he wanted to give me the game time that I was striving for.”
A win over City would give the Bulls a massive boost in their bid to lock up a spot in the top six with nine rounds left in the regular season.
City are coming off a wretched run of form - they have just one win in their last seven - but Raphael is cautious of declaring the reigning premiers a spent force.
“They obviously lost a lot of players with boys leaving.
They’re still a good team and it’s going to be a hard game and I wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up in the top six.
“They’ve got a lot of quality and when it clicks I think they will get back to where they were before.”
Macarthur are close to full strength with Kearyn Baccus, Matthew Millar and Daniel De Silva all nearing returns to full fitness ahead of the run-in towards the finals.
City will have Tolgay Arslan back from a three-game suspension after being banned for abusing match officials.
