Going by Adelaide United FC’s past results at AAMI Park against Melbourne Heart, the chance of securing another three points on Friday night would appear high, however Coach John Kosmina is not relying on this logic if the Reds are to get over the line.
Going by Adelaide United FC-s past results at AAMI Park against Melbourne Heart, the chance of securing another three points tomorrow night (Friday 18 January 2013) would appear high, however Coach John Kosmina is not relying on this logic if the Reds are to get over the line.
History reads that Adelaide United heads to the Heart-s home with a 100 percent success rate, the Reds having won their two matches against the red and whites at the venue.
But Friday night-s clash is a new game and highlighting the Heart-s past two matches at home, Kosmina knows the Reds will need to bring their best if they are to make it three from three.
In their last outing at AAMI Park, the Heart were 3-0 up against Brisbane Roar inside an hour and managed to hold on 3-2 after being down to ten men for the last 23 minutes. The game prior to that saw them defeat the Newcastle Jets, giving them 14 points out of a possible 20 at home so far this season.
Kosmina says the Reds will need to produce a full 90 minute performance if they are to be a chance of getting past the Heart on their turf, especially after the scare of last Friday night-s 3-2 win over Perth Glory, which saw the Glory strike twice in the final three minutes.
“They (Melbourne Heart) are a tough side. It will be a tough game, they-re at home and they-ve had success at home,” Kosmina said.
“They beat Brisbane there the other week, all be it with a little bit of good fortune on their side, but the fact is they-ve had good results at home, so from that perspective we need to be really on our game, and the way the league is, you can-t back off for five minutes – you get punished and that showed up in the last five minutes against Perth last week.”
Kosmina is poised to make just one change to the team that started against the Glory, Jeronimo Neumann set to replace the injured Bruce Djite up front.
With Djite out and the fellow striker Sergio van Dijk-s move to Indonesia, Kosmina still believes the Reds have the fire power to find the back of the net and threaten a Heart defence that has conceded at least one goal in each of the past six games.
“Jeronimo will do a job – not an issue,” Kosmina said.
“Serge (van Dijk) was coming to Melbourne as of yesterday morning but his move to Indonesia was always in the pipeline so I-m going to take Jake Barker-Daish instead, it just gives us a different variation on the bench.”
The Reds had a light run this morning before departing for Melbourne, the squad out on the track early with the mercury expected to reach 40 degrees.
Despite a shorter session, Kosmina has been pleased with the standard of training during the week and says the players- mindset would be the thing that goes a long way to keeping in touch with the Central Coast Mariners at the top of the table.
“We worked really well on Tuesday – it was a hard session, and yesterday we got what we wanted to done, but at this time of the year it-s as much mental as it is anything else…probably more so,” Kosmina said.
Hyundai A-League 2012/13 Season – Week 17
MELBOURNE HEART v ADELAIDE UNITED FC
Friday 18 January 2013, AAMI Park
Kick-Off: 7.00pm ACDT
Referee: Lucien Laverdure
TV: LIVE & Exclusive on Fox Sports 1
Radio: Score updates on 891 ABC Adelaide
Twitter: twitter.com/adelutd_fc (hash tag #MHvREDS)
Adelaide United squad: 1.Eugene Galekovic (gk) (c), 2.Osama Malik, 4.Jon McKain, 5.Iain Fyfe, 6.Cassio, 7.Zenon Caravella, 10.Dario Vidosic, 12.Antony Golec, 14.Cameron Watson, 16.Daniel Bowles, 17.Iain Ramsay, 18.Fabian Barbiero, 19.Jake Barker-Daish, 21.Jeronimo Neumann, 23.Evan Kostopoulos, 30.John Hall (gk)
*one to be omitted
In: Jon McKain (promoted), Zenon Caravella (promoted), Jake Barker-Daish (promoted), John Hall (gk) (promoted from NYL)
Out: Bruce Djite (groin – 2-3 weeks), Awer Mabil (returns to NYL), Paul Izzo (gk) (corked thigh)
Unavailable: Nigel Boogaard (hamstring – 1 week), Marcelo Carrusca (groin – 2 weeks), Fabio Ferreira (groin – 2-3 weeks)
Melbourne Heart FC squad: 1.Clint Bolton (Gk), 3.Cameron Edwards, 4.Simon Colosimo, 5.Fred (c), 6.Patrick Gerhardt, 8.Matthew Thompson, 9.Dylan Macallister, 10.Josip Tadic, 11.Richard Garcia, 13.Jonatan Germano, 14.Golgol Mebrahtu, 15.David Williams, 16.Aziz Behich, 17.Jason Hoffman, 18.David Vrankovic, 19.Ben Garuccio, 20.Andrew Redmayne (GK), 21.Steven Gray, 22.Nick Kalmar, 24.Sam Mitchinson, 25.Jeremy Walker, 26.Ersin Kaya, 27.Stefan Mauk
*eight to be omitted
In: David Williams (returns from suspension), Cameron Edwards, David Vrankovic, Ben Garuccio, Steven Gray, Sam Mitchinson, Ersin Kaya
Out: Nil
Unavailable: Mate Dugandzic (broken foot – season), Vince Grella (fitness)
Adelaide United FC vs. Melbourne Heart – Hyundai A-League HEAD TO HEAD Record:
Played 7 – 4 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss
At AAMI Park
Played 2; Adelaide United 2, Melbourne Heart 0, Draws 0
Last time they met
17-Nov-2012 Week 7, Hyundai A-League 2012/13 Season at Hindmarsh Stadium
Adelaide United FC 1 (Colosimo 58- (og))
Melbourne Heart 0
