Adelaide United Head Coach, Guillermo Amor, and defender Taylor Regan stressed the Reds will do everything to win their do-or-die clash with Chinese outfit Jiangsu Suning on Tuesday night.
The Reds must win their final group match and hope Jeju United drop points against Gamba Osaka if Amor’s men are to qualify for the round of 16.
Adelaide currently sit in third spot with five points while Korean outfit Jeju are second on the Group H table with 7 points.
On matchday two, the Reds suffered a gallant 2-1 loss to Jiangsu but with the Chinese side already guaranteeing top spot they are expected to start a weakened line-up.
Despite Jiangsu resting several big names, Amor is still expecting an extremely difficult encounter.
Ex-Chelsea midfielder Ramires and Tao Yuan are suspended, while Alex Teixeira and Roger Martinez have stayed in China.
“For me the important thing in football is the squad,” Amor said.
“Not one, two or three players, normally the squad is 25 players.
“I respect every player because it’s possible they play other players that normally don’t play.
“Or players that wait for their opportunity and they play fantastic.”
The Spanish tactician also welcomed the return of centre-backs Dylan McGowan and Regan as well as midfielder Riley McGree from suspension.
“We lost Taylor (Regan), Riley (McGree) and (Dylan) McGowan in the last game,” Amor continued.
“Now they’re in the list and it’s important (to have them back).”
Meanwhile, Regan echoed the coach’s sentiments insisting the team is only worried about securing a crucial victory and whatever transpires in the other group game is out of their control.
“At the end of the day we don’t really mind how we play tomorrow night,” he said.
“Of course we want to control it, but we need to win so that’s the main focus.
“We need to win and pray that a good result happens in the other game (between Jeju and Gamba).”
Regan said he is relishing the chance of playing in front of a boisterous Adelaide crowd at Hindmarsh Stadium – hopeful Tuesday’s game will not be the Club’s last match of the season.
“It’s exciting for not just the players and coaching staff, but exciting for the fans,” Regan said.
“I expect quite a big and vocal crowd and we haven’t had that for quite a few weeks and that’s exciting for us.”
Adelaide United host Jiangsu Suning in their final AFC Champions League 2017 group stage match on Tuesday, 9 May at Hindmarsh Stadium. Kick-off is at 7.30pm ACST.
