Ben Halloran believes the resilience Adelaide United showed last weekend against Western Sydney Wanderers is a testament to the “tremendous character” in the squad.
The Reds’ reaction after being reduced to 10 men following Louis D’Arrigo’s red card on the stroke of half-time was impressive according to Halloran.
Adelaide ended up drawing the game 1-1 after Tomi Juric’s opener was cancelled out by Simon Cox, but the winger suggested most teams could be forgiven for unravelling after the setback.
“When you go down to 10 men you might not blame a team for kind of just dropping the ball a bit and just losing comfortably,” Halloran told the media.
“But we didn’t do that at all, I think we showed tremendous character and I think even with 10 men we’ve a style of play that’s working for us.
“We’ve won a lot of games by believing in ourselves and I think we really showed that.”
Adelaide’s attention has already shifted to its home clash against Macarthur FC at Coopers Stadium on Wednesday night.
Despite the short turnaround for Carl Veart’s charges, the 28-year-old was confident they could impose its high-intensity game style on the Bulls.
The A-League’s newest club suffered a 2-1 loss to Brisbane Roar, snapping a three-matching winning streak.
“It’s going to be a tough one,” said Halloran, who registered a team-high fourth assist against the Wanderers.
“They’ve been a bit up and down recently, but they’ve got some very good players.
“They play a possession style so I think if we put them under the pump and play our high-pressing game then I think we should be good enough to beat them.”
Halloran reserved praise for midseason arrivals Joshua Cavallo and Juande with the pair excelling in their new surroundings.
“Josh (Cavallo) has played a couple of positions for us and he’s done tremendously well,” he said.
“And Juande we know how good he’s been, he’s been very good in the A-League for Perth (Glory) over the few years.
“They’ve both slotted in seamlessly and done a really good job.”
Next match details:
Wednesday, 14 April vs Macarthur FC
A-League 2020/21 – Matchweek 16
Kick-off 7.05pm ACST
Gates open 6.05pm ACST
Venue: Coopers Stadium
Broadcast: Fox Sports
Stream: Kayo Sports, MyFootball Live App
