Adelaide United coach, Josep Gombau, said the short turn around between recent matches is no excuse ahead of their clash with Newcastle Jets on Friday night.
But whilst some United players may feel tired during Friday’s game at Hunter Stadium, Gombau has said there are individuals in the squad who can inject added power if needed.
“Now in this short time (between games) we need to take precautions and think about (future games) and not take a risk if someone is not ready,” Gombau said.
“I think, physically, in the second half we might suffer because, in the end, we played three days before and it’s not time enough. We need, normally, four days.
“But we also have some fresh legs, like Goodwin, or even Pablo (Sanchez), or Fabio (Ferreira) – these players can bring to us power.
“(Bruce Djite) is one of the players that (on Wednesday) we checked and he felt pain, but it’s not an injury. Maybe he can play, or maybe he can stay on the bench and in the second half if we need him, we can use him.
Gombau remains positive, however, and said the physical side of football is just one aspect of Friday’s game against the Jets. The other key aspect is player mentality, which is also set to be crucial in United’s pursuit for further success.
“On the other hand you have (your) mentality. Mentally, when you win, you are on fire and this mentality is important,” he explained.
“When you win you are more confident and when you win a trophy you can imagine (how you would feel). The feeling is so good and (the players) have this.
“If we want to be in the top, fighting to be in the finals, and for this we need to win every single game – away and at home.
“This is our mentality and we go (to Newcastle) to try to bring the three points to Adelaide.
“We’re doing well and we have to keep (doing well). We want to keep this winning mentality and try to go there and win.”
And although the Jets have just four points to show from their first ten games this Hyundai A-League season, Gombau believes his side will be up against a well organised and good performing Newcastle.
“I’ve seen games of theirs and they played a good game against (Melbourne) Victory, but every single game is different.
“For me, the Hyundai A-League is very competitive and every team can beat every team. We (won’t) go there thinking they have only four points. We’ll go there thinking that we are away (from home) and it’s a difficult game that we need to work (hard).
“(Friday) from the first minute we will be at 120 per cent.”
Adelaide United face Newcastle Jets in Round 11 of the Hyundai A-League 2014/15 Season on Friday, 19 December. Kick off is at 7.10pm ACDT (7.40 AEDT).
Friday, 19 December 2014
Newcastle Jets v Adelaide United
Hunter Stadium, Newcastle
Kick-Off: 7:40 PM (Local) (7:40 PM AEDT)
Referee: Strebre Delovski
Assistant Referee 1: Lance Greenshields
Assistant Referee 2: Andrej Giev
Fourth Official: Adam Gehrig
TV Broadcast: Live and exclusive coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 7.00pm (AEDT) and Live Coverage on SBS HD & SBS One from 7.30pm AEDT
Radio Broadcast: 1233 ABC Newcastle, 891 ABC Adelaide, ABC Local Radio SA, Grandstand Digital, Grandstand Online/ABC Radio Mobile phone app
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #NEWvADL
Newcastle Jets squad: 1.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 2.Scott NEVILLE, 5.Ben KANTAROVSKI, 6.Adrian MADASCHI, 7.Jeronimo NEUMANN, 8.Zenon CARAVELLA, 9.Joel GRIFFITHS (c), 11.Andrew HOOLE, 12.Sam GALLAGHER, 13.Edson MONTANO, 16.Jacob PEPPER, 17.James VIRGILI, 18.Allan WELSH, 19.Mitch COOPER, 20.Ben KENNEDY (gk), 21.Sam GALLAWAY, 23.David CARNEY, 26.Nick COWBURN **two to be omitted**
Ins: 17.James VIRGILI (promoted), 18.Allan WELSH (promoted), 26.Nick COWBURN (promoted)
Outs: 4. Kew JALIENS (suspended – 2 weeks)
Unavailable: 3.Taylor REGAN (ankle – 1 week), 14.Billy CELESKI (groin – 2-3 weeks), 15.Josh BARRESI (knee – season), 22.Jonny STEELE (leave of absence)
Adelaide United squad: 1.Eugene GALEKOVIC (c) (GK), 2.Michael MARRONE, 3.Nigel BOOGAARD, 4.Dylan McGOWAN, 7.Pablo SÁNCHEZ, 8.ISAÍAS, 9.Sergio CIRIO, 10.Marcelo CARRUSCA, 11.Bruce DJITE, 14.Cameron WATSON, 16.Craig GOODWIN, 17.Awer MABIL, 18.Jimmy JEGGO, 21.Tarek ELRICH, 22.Fabio FERREIRA, 24.Bruce KAMAU, 30.John HALL (GK), 32.Nathan KONSTANDOPOPOULOS **two to be omitted**
Ins: 3.Nigel BOOGAARD (returns from injury), 10.Marcelo CARRUSCA (returns from injury), 32.Nathan KONSTANDOPOPOULOS (promoted)
Outs: 15.Ben WARLAND (omitted)
Unavailable: 5.Osama MALIK (calf – 2-3 weeks), 6.CASSIO (calf – 1-2 weeks), 20.Paul IZZO (gk) (calf – 1-2 weeks), 23.Jordan ELSEY (knee – indefinite)
