Adelaide United Youth Reserves Head Coach, Adrian Stenta, stressed the importance of being clinical on both sides of the ball when they battle Croydon Kings Reserves in the second week of the finals series.
The Young Reds overcame MetroStars 2-1 in extra-time in last week’s Elimination Final, while Croydon beat West Adelaide 4-1. The winner of this weekend’s match will play the loser of Raiders and Adelaide Comets.
Stenta hoped to see his side improve their conversion rate up front and also reduce the number of mistakes made.
“In tight matches it often comes down to who can take their opportunities or minimise their mistakes,” he said.
“So probably after both of those things this week, being able to create and then put away the opportunities that we have; and then also being able to limit the mistakes we make that they’ll be able to capitalise on as well.
“So probably just being more clinical in all areas of our game.”
Head-to-head during the regular season saw United Youth defeat the Kings 5-3, before suffering a 3-0 away loss, and Stenta is anticipating another difficult clash.
“We’re expecting a really tough match, down to the last four teams remaining in the competition,” he stated.
“So every team that is left is a quality side and we’ve had a couple of really competitive games against Croydon this year and they’ve been a very difficult opponent for us.
“So we think it’s going to be a tough game on the weekend.”
The United Youth boss also discussed some of Croydon’s strengths with their physicality something his side will need to be wary of.
“They can play the ball around fairly well,” he continued.
“And they’re probably a little bit more experienced than us, they’ve got a few players that are a little bit older and so they’re probably a little bit more physical as well.
“So we’re just expecting a hard game from them.”
Adelaide United Youth Reserves face Croydon Kings Reserves in the Elimination Final of the National Premier League 2019 Reserves Finals Series on Saturday, 31 August at VALO Football Centre – The Parks. Kick-off is at 3:30 PM.
