In their comeback to the top tier state league, Heidelberg United managed to place a remarkable third alongside two Greek-sponsored teams.

Now, the club is chasing first place as they prepare for their inaugural match.

Heidelberg United take on Pascoe Vale on Sunday at their new makeshift home of Epping Stadium as Olympic Village gets refurbished.

For coach George Katsakis, he’s expecting to see a very different opponent to what they faced last year.

“I think Pascoe Vale will be very physical, they always have been, they graft out results,” he tells Neos Kosmos.

“Certainly we’ll have to be at our very best to make sure we combat that. I think they signed two or three quality players, so we’ll all have to be very careful on the day.”

Over the break, Katsakis has been working hard to develop his team to give himself more choice on game day. Sometimes the best teams are the ones that have the ability to still field strong teams if the top players get injured.

A major signing for Katsakis was getting former Greek League and Oakleigh Cannons player Andreas Govas.

“I think we were missing that playmaker type of player that will complement our team,” he says.

“That’s one of the reasons that we went for someone like Andrea. I think he’s added a lot of experience, a lot of quality to the sport, and no doubt we’re looking at him for quite a big year.”

Govas actually played for the youth teams of Heidelberg before he moved to Greece and considered the move back as a homecoming.

“I’ve said to him, the pressures of coming back home are actually performing,” Katsakis says.

“There’s a bit of an expectation on him.”

As for the state of the team after its preseason, things are looking promising.

They smashed Goulburn Valley Suns 8-1 and North Geelong 3-1, but were defeated by a resurging Port Melbourne Sharks 1-3 recently.

The 8-1 win still shows that Heidelberg is the NPL’s goal machine and will definitely provide some of the most entertaining matches of the season.

Katsakis isn’t getting too complacent though.

“I think just like anything with pre-season, you think you’ve got it all right, however, until the boys go through those paces, match day paces, it’ll soon be a little bit different,” he says.

Heidelberg take on Pascoe Vale at Epping Stadium at 4.00 pm on Sunday.