Adelaide United winger, Ryan Kitto, is confident his side can extend their winning streak to three Hyundai A-League games against Sydney FC on Friday night.
After scoring the match-winner versus Central Coast Mariners in Round 7, Kitto bagged a decisive brace against the Jets at Coopers Stadium.
That result not only secured Adelaide’s maiden home win of the season, but also successive league victories.
Those strikes have taken his tally to four in eight matches.
“I was just lucky to be on the end of some good build up play,” Kitto said at the Adelaide United Training Centre.
“Both Karim (Matmour) for the first and Nikola (Mileusnic) for the second did all the hard work and I was fortunately able to put it in and we were able to come away with the three points.
“It’s good for us to get our first win at home and hopefully we can continue on that way this Friday night against Sydney.”
Hear from Marco following the win that put us into 4th on the @ALeague ladder. 👊 We're back home this Friday 🆚 Sydney FC. #AUFC #ADLvWSW pic.twitter.com/d3MY0XEaE8
— Adelaide United (@AdelaideUnited) November 27, 2017
Kitto said he cannot wait for the clash with league leaders Sydney FC and was anticipating an entertaining spectacle.
The two sides met just a week ago in the Westfield FFA Cup Final, where Adelaide went down 2-1 in extra-time.
“We are all excited for Friday night, obviously Sydney were champions last year,” he said.
“And we welcome them to our home ground and we have had our first win there now and we are excited for the challenge.
“We had a good game against them in the Cup Final.”
Having been without up to six first-team regulars at various stages to begin the campaign, United currently occupy fourth spot on the ladder.
Kitto believes that is a testament to the squad’s depth and Head Coach, Marco Kurz’s, ability to impart confidence in the younger, inexperienced players.
Congratulations to Ryan Kitto, voted our Stillwell Hyundai Player of the Match for Round 8! #AUFC #ForeverUnited pic.twitter.com/XPgufUEpT7
— Adelaide United (@AdelaideUnited) November 27, 2017
“He definitely instils confidence in us,” Kitto revealed.
“… The more he keeps saying that and the senior boys as well around the group then you start to believe as a young player.
“And we have seen the likes of those defenders (Ryan Strain, Ben Warland and Jordan Elsey) come in and do really good jobs, so he instils confidence.
“But at the same time something that really hits home with me is that he is always saying to enjoy the game and have fun.
“… So if we go out there and we have fun and enjoy it we are going to play with a lot more confidence than worrying about it.”
Adelaide United host Sydney FC in Round 9 of the Hyundai A-League 2017/18 season on Friday, 1 December at Coopers Stadium. Kick-off is at 7.20pm ACDT.
