Adelaide United Head Coach, Huss Skenderovic stressed that the Young Reds will not fall for any physical pressure, when they face Adelaide Olympic in Round 12 of the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues at The Parks Football Centre on Saturday night.
It will be a hardened battle between the two sides with both needing to keep their season alive, as well as their place in the competition.
Despite a good run in form as of late, Adelaide United currently sit in 11th on the league standings, while Adelaide Olympic sit in ninth.
The two sides met at the start of the season, where the Young Reds fell 0-3 at The Parks Football Centre in their “home” fixture.
Last match day, United tried to weather the storm at A.A Bailey Reserve conceding a single goal to Cumberland United.
Adelaide Olympic will also be in sombre spirits, following their 1-3 defeat to Para Hills Knights.
Skenderovic mentioned the tough conditions of last Saturday’s match against Cumberland, but said it was not a valid excuse for his side’s loss, in which they had a number of chances in front of goal.
“It was clear that we were the team that came out to play, and we should have gotten the win, but the ground was not in the best condition,” he said.
“When we watched over game play and analysed it, we came to a conclusion that ground did not suit the way we play.
“But it is still no excuse, because we created at least six good chances and didn’t take them.
“And that was the difference, as they had one chance on goal and took that opportunity to ultimately win the game.
“We had numerous, really good chances and never took them, which unfortunately lost us the game.
“But Cumberland also had to play and it is just another learning experience for us, because if we were clinical in front of goal, those conditions would not have mattered in the end.
“When you don’t win, you tend to explore more of what went wrong, but we will move on to this week and try and get those three points in the bag.”
On facing the hoplites, Adelaide Olympic this week, Skenderovic believes it will be physical, but said his Reds will not fall for the intimidation this time round.
“The game against Adelaide Olympic will be another tough one,” he continued.
“And one thing that we have come to learn is that there are certain teams that actually want to play football, which is great and works tactically for us.
“But then there are other teams that try and come out to hit us physically, in which we have struggled against previously.
“And I think that this will be the challenge against Adelaide Olympic, and we will have to brave the physicality of the game.
“They will be there to intimidate us, but we have actually become stronger, and we stood up physically against Cumberland, and we were steady in the challenges.
“In comparison to our last meeting with Olympic, we did not match up as well physically, but now we have improved in that area and have also become a better ball-playing team.
“I think that this time, we are confident enough that we can beat them.”
The Young Reds take on Adelaide Olympic “away” at The Parks Football Centre on Saturday night. Kick-off is 7pm, Reserves kick-off at 5pm.
