Adelaide United Head Coach, Guillermo Amor, and defender, Taylor Regan, are anticipating a tough match against Newcastle Jets at Coopers Stadium on Friday night.
Adelaide United Head Coach, Guillermo Amor, and defender, Taylor Regan, are anticipating a tough match against Newcastle Jets at Coopers Stadium on Friday night.
The Reds remain 10 points adrift of the top six at the foot of the table, but the pair are confident a victory keeps the team’s slim finals chances alive.
It is the third instalment of this clash this season with the Reds earning a 1-1 draw in Round 1, before succumbing to a last-minute 2-1 loss 10 matches later.
Last time out, Adelaide suffered their worst ever home defeat in the competition against Perth Glory, while Newcastle played out an uninspiring 0-0 draw with Melbourne Victory.
Amor believes the match will be difficult, however affirmed his side will do everything they can to grab the three points.
“It’ll be a difficult game, they come here with a coach, Mark Jones, and was the youth team coach,” Amor said.
“He knows a little bit about our football, our style, and our players.
“But it’ll be a hard game, a difficult game he (Jones) plays serious, tactically he’s good.
“It won’t be an easy game, but we’ll go for the win.”
Adelaide have not suffered a home setback against the Jets since November 2013, which incidentally was the previous occasion the Novocastrian outfit found the back-of-the-net at Coopers Stadium.
United, who have also kept five clean sheets in their past seven matches against the Jets, will be looking to snap a four game winless streak.
“The group is always fantastic and we don’t have problems,” Amor said when asked about the squad’s morale.
“In the change room with the players between us I think there’s a good relationship, a professional relationship.
“When you’ve respect with your players, normally you don’t have problems.”
Reds defender, Regan further added that although the current situation is “bad”, the mood within the dressing room remains positive.
“It’s been quite good… We recognise the situation is bad, but there’s only one way to get out of it,” Regan said.
“If we all went in a different direction we’re not going to get out of it.
“A few fresh faces arriving and things like that always cheers the mood up and they’re good characters.
“Kim’s (Jae-sung) a character and giggles at everything even though sometimes he doesn’t know what’s being said, he’s still giggling.”
The 28-year-old is expecting a challenging clash versus his former side, stating Mark Jones’ men have been relatively “unpredictable” this campaign.
“They’re (Newcastle) a little bit unpredictable and I think that works for them,” he continued.
“The unpredictability of (Andrew) Hoole and (Andrew) Nabbout and the cleverness of (Morten) Nordstrand and then you’ve (Nigel) Boogaard at the back that’s leading them well.
“Mark Jones has them set up well and we go into tomorrow night knowing it’s going to be a tough match.
“But we give 110 per cent the fans deserve that and we play for the badge.”
Regan is also hopeful a win against Newcastle can build momentum ahead of the imminent AFC Champions League group stage, starting on Wednesday against Gamba Osaka.
“The ACL is a bit of a fresh start… It’s a different league,” he said.
“It’s a different feel about it, it’s not as physical as the A-League and as demanding and they’re in the off season.
“So we worry about that when it comes Wednesday, but if we can get a good result tomorrow night here in front of the fans, it gives them something to cheer about on Wednesday.”
Adelaide United host Newcastle Jets in Round 20 of the Hyundai A-League 2016/17 season on Friday, 17 February at Coopers Stadium. Kick-off is at 7.20pm ACDT.
