Adelaide United will be seeking nothing less than a win over Melbourne City at AAMI Park on Saturday to maintain hope of securing a home final.
It was a vastly improved display from the Reds in their 3-1 win against Wellington Phoenix last time out, and they will now be hoping to make it three wins in a row this weekend.
Head Coach Marco Kurz is optimistic they can build on their momentum.
“After (two) wins the confidence is much higher and we feel like we’re on the right track,” Kurz told reporters at the pre-match press conference.
“And now we’ve to perform again against a strong team in (Melbourne) City.”
Trio of young guns included in the extended 18-man squad. #AUFC #MCYvADL
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Adelaide lie on equal points (37) with Wellington but due to an inferior goal difference occupy fifth spot, and notably one point clear of sixth-placed City.
Saturday’s result will likely have significant permutations in the makeup of the league standings with just a further two games remaining in the regular season.
Kurz said while the ultimate dream is to play a home final in front of a packed Coopers Stadium, he insisted first and foremost they must guarantee a top six berth.
“I think we had a fantastic experience with the FFA Cup Final and everybody wants to have another knockout game again at home,” he stated.
“But we must do a brilliant job in the last three games against very hard and strong opponents.
“Firstly, my aim is to reach the finals to do a good job… And if we’ve a chance to give our fantastic supporters and also the city a home game, we’ll do our best to reach this big goal.
“But I think it’s more appropriate to speak after the next game, I think if we get a good result, if we lose it’s very hard to reach it.”
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🗓 Saturday, 13 April | 5:05pm ACDT
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Warren Joyce’s side returned to form in their last outing, dispatching Brisbane 4-1.
Kurz, who has not beaten the Victorian outfit in his five previous attempts, knows all too well the challenges they pose.
“For me it’s a very strong squad,” he said.
“They’ve a lot of options that they can set up their first eleven. They change a lot of their tactical line-up each week and I think they’re well organised against the ball, it’s very hard to find spaces to create chances and score goals against them.
“And on the other side they’ve high quality in attack and that means they only need one and a half chances to score a goal and that makes City so hard to play against.
“But you know me and if you start a game the aim is always to win.”
Adelaide United face Melbourne City in Round 25 of the Hyundai A-League 2018/19 season on Saturday, 13 April at AAMI Park. Kick-off is at 5.05pm ACST. Live on Fox Sports, and streamed on the My Football Live App and Kayo Sports.
