Paul Izzo insists his Adelaide United teammates remain focused on snapping a two-match losing streak, starting with a win against Newcastle Jets at Coopers Stadium on Saturday.
After a seven-game unbeaten streak across the Westfield FFA Cup and Hyundai A-League, Adelaide have suffered back-to-back defeats against Melbourne City and Perth Glory.
But despite the disappointing results, Izzo said belief remained high in the dressing room with the team determined to return to winning ways.
“We can say we didn’t play too well this past week and the week before,” Izzo said.
“But at the end of the day we still leave the games with confidence because we are doing some very good things and the season is very long, and it’s very early in to it.
“We are not stressing too much and we are fully focused.”
In the 1-0 loss to the Glory at the weekend, the young goalkeeper bailed out the Reds on a number of occasions – which included a fourth minute penalty save to deny Diego Castro.
“It leaves a bad taste in the mouth we couldn’t at least get a draw especially away from home in Perth,” he admitted.
“We know how tough it is there to get a result.”
Izzo also gave an honest assessment on his own form to begin the campaign.
“Honestly before the Perth game I was a bit fifty/fifty with how my performances were going,” he said.
“I wanted them to be a bit better then what they had been and I’m pleased I finally had a decent game.
“But that game’s done now so it means nothing and move on to next week already.”
Congratulations @P_izzo, Hyundai @ALeague Save of the Round and Player of the Round! #AUFC #ForeverUnited pic.twitter.com/bFGlJQdhTF
— Adelaide United (@AdelaideUnited) November 7, 2017
Not only are the Reds two matches without a win they have also failed to score a goal in each of those setbacks.
But Izzo said the blame should not be attributed to anyone, rather stating it is a collective effort to rectify the current predicament.
“To win games we need to score goals and we didn’t,” he added.
“At the end of the day it’s a full team performance and we can’t put the blame on anyone we all lose together and we all win together.
“And it just comes down to the preparation this week, if we do it well then we can get a good result against a Newcastle.”
The Jets are unbeaten from their opening five matches, and the young shot-stopper warned the Reds will have to be wary of their potent attack.
Ernie Merrick’s side have scored a competition-high 13 goals, most recently dispatching Wellington Phoenix 3-0.
“We’ll analyse their big guns, their front three or front four is very dangerous,” he continued.
“We’ll study them and I’m sure they’ll study us and at the end of the day whoever doesn’t concede first is going to be the winner of this game.
“… I knew they were going to be a strong side due to how well they recruited, unfortunately for them they had a horror injury to one of their marquee boys (Ronald Vargas).
“That’s never too good to see, but they still have a lot of strength in their squad and we are well aware of that.”
Adelaide United host Newcastle Jets in Round 6 of the Hyundai A-League 2017/18 season on Saturday, 11 November at Coopers Stadium. Kick-off is at 5.05pm ACDT.
