Adelaide United defender Dylan McGowan has claimed Western Sydney Wanderers will “have a lot to worry about” if Bruce Djite matches his semi-final performance in Sunday’s Hyundai A-League Grand Final.
Djite led Adelaide to a 4-1 triumph over Melbourne City last week, scoring the Reds’ opening two goals and setting up the fourth in a man-of-the-match display at Coopers Stadium.
The 29-year-old striker has been in scorching form in the latter part of the season – he has six goals in his past four matches – and McGowan applauded the way Djite had recovered from a scoring drought earlier in the season.
“Ever since then he’s been one of the form strikers in the competition, and it just shows when we’ve got a big man up top that’s firing how much more of a dangerous side we are and he’s getting goals for us at the right time of the season,” McGowan told Goal Australia.
“If he’s fit and firing and playing as well as he did in the semi-final, Western Sydney are going to have a lot to worry about.”
McGowan has been a constant in Adelaide’s topsy-turvy season – the only player to play every minute of their 28 matches – and although the 24-year-old centre-back wasn’t willing to call it his “best” season, he conceded it has been his “most successful” due to the Reds’ premiership triumph.
“In terms of individual performances, it’s probably been one of my most consistent seasons but I’m still obviously not happy with a lot of areas of my game and we’ll be looking to improve that as I go along,” he said.
The grand final at Adelaide Oval will be the Reds’ third in the history of the A-League with the two previous season-deciders ending in defeat to Melbourne Victory.
As a young South Australian, McGowan remembers those games but insists “there’s definitely no scars” in Amor’s squad, with only Eugene Galekovic (2009) and Bruce Djite (2007) still around.
Adelaide United will face Western Sydney Wanderers in the 2016 Hyundai A-League Grand Final on Sunday, 1 May at Adelaide Oval. Kick-off is at 3.30pm ACST.
