Adelaide United Captain, Isaías, says all the pressure will be on Perth Glory in their Hyundai A-League Semi-final meeting at HBF Park on Friday night.
Perth lifted the Premiers Plate following a strong campaign under Tony Popovic and have enjoyed an 11-day break since their rout of Wellington Phoenix in Round 27.
That is in stark contrast to Adelaide, who prevailed past Melbourne City in an Elimination Final courtesy of Ben Halloran’s dramatic extra-time winner on Sunday.
Isaías said he was happy for his side to wear the underdog tag but insisted the Reds will not be going down without a fight against the highly fancied Glory.
“They can be the favourites, they’re the current premiers of the league,” Isaías told reporters at the pre-match press conference in Perth post training.
“And they’ve a fantastic team, they’ve had a fantastic year – that’s fantastic.
“But this is a different competition, this is a one-game elimination.
“We’ve come here to fight and we’re not coming here for a holiday, so let’s see what happens tomorrow.”
Unchanged. Let's get it.
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— Adelaide United (@AdelaideUnited) May 9, 2019
Adelaide have failed to score in their three regular season encounters this campaign, though did record a 0-0 draw in their last trip across the Nullarbor with an undermanned squad in January.
The 32-year-old midfield maestro suggested the players will naturally put pressure on themselves given a place in the Grand Final is at stake.
However, he acknowledged that the Glory would likely be the more anxious of the two teams since they are the favourites.
“I think we put the pressure on ourselves because we want to finish the season in the best way possible,” he said.
“But of course, after they’ve had an amazing year everyone is expecting them to win tomorrow and probably they’ve a little bit more pressure than us.”
Adelaide will have had four days of rest heading into the semi-final, and Isaías believed fatigue should not be any real concern after flying to Perth on Wednesday.
“The main thing during the week was to recover well after the game,” he said.
“But I think we’ve done enough to recover, we’ve done three sessions already and the team is feeling great especially today.
“And it was really nice to train in the stadium today and to have the feeling in the stadium.”
Adelaide United face Perth Glory in a Hyundai A-League 2018/19 Semi-final on Friday, 10 May at HBF Park. Kick-off is at 8.00pm ACST. Live on Fox Sports, 10 Bold and streamed on the My Football Live App and Kayo Sports.
