Soccer: A-League fortunate to have striker Derbyshire, says Milicic

(Reuters) - The goals have flowed for Matt Derbyshire since the Englishman arrived at A-League debutants Macarthur FC, but it has been his impact beyond his scoring that has most impressed coach Ante Milicic.

The 35-year-old netted twice on Friday in a 3-1 win over Melbourne Victory to take his season's tally to 13 in 22 games since joining from Omonia in Cyprus, and Milicic has been delighted with the performance of the ex-Blackburn Rovers forward.

"He's been excellent," said Milicic, whose side moved up to second in the standings with the win.

"Everyone talks about his goals but his numbers are phenomenal. He works constantly, he starts our press, he's vocal in the change room, he always wants to score.

"He helps the young boys, he's excellent for the young boys who have been given opportunities around our football club.

"He got what he deserved tonight, two well taken goals and he's pleased, but we expect that and he expects that from himself. He's a quality striker and his career has shown that."

Despite his scoring record, Derbyshire rarely receives the praise afforded to other overseas arrivals, although Milicic stressed the 35-year-old is well respected within the Macarthur set-up.

"We all appreciate the work that he does for us, on and off the field and we're very fortunate to have him in the A-League I believe," he said.

Macarthur, who joined the A-League at the start of the current campaign, trail leaders Melbourne City by nine points but are continuing to push to be one of the six clubs who qualify for the end-of-season finals.

"What we've done now is we've put ourselves in a position where we don't need to rely on others," said Milicic.

"We just need to focus on ourselves. There's four games to go and we'll take it one game at a time. Everything's in our hands and I'm just pleased for the boys tonight that they got the win."

(Reporting by Michael Church in Hong Kong, Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)