After Adelaide United suffered its first defeat since Carl Veart has been at the helm, the boss admitted his team lacked the intensity required to compete in the A-League.
The Reds went down 5-3 to Perth Glory on Wednesday night at HBF Park in a substandard showing.
United were punished for its sluggishness and individual errors with Veart lamenting the performance in their first loss of the season.
“We didn’t really come out at the start of the game,” Veart told reporters in the post-match press conference.
“We were well off the pace, and allowed them to gain confidence. We just didn’t really get started.
“And the same in the second-half, we came out with an intent to change some things and then we gave away another soft goal.
“And that I suppose, summed the night up for us, just disappointing.
“Too many individual mistakes and if you don’t turn up in the A-League it’s what happens tonight – you get done.”
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While it was a frustrating game, the 50-year-old believed the short turnaround ahead of their meeting with Melbourne Victory at Coopers Stadium on Saturday night should serve as huge motivation to bounce back.
“I suppose that’s the positive thing is that we’ve got Melbourne Victory in three days’ time,” he admitted.
“So we don’t have to think about this game now, that’s gone and we’re lucky we’ve got Victory coming up because that’s a big game for us.
“It’s our main rivalry so hopefully we can turn up there and put on a good show for our fans at home.”
Veart provided an update on the availability of defenders Ryan strain and Javi López, declaring both are up for selection against Victory having missed the Perth game with injury.
However, it will likely be a race against time for Captain, Stefan Mauk, as he continues his recovery from a calf issue, though Veart was remaining optimistic.
“Strainy (Ryan Strain) and Javi (López) should be (available),” he revealed.
“Stefan (Mauk) we’ll see when we get back to Adelaide tomorrow night to see how he’s progressed this week on the training track, he’ll be touch and go, Stefan.
“I suppose we missed his intensity, his aggressiveness in the midfield, tonight we were just too far away from their players, gave them far too much time on the ball and allowed them to get in behind us far too easily.”
Next match details:
Game date: Saturday, 23 January vs Melbourne Victory
A-League 2020/21 – Matchweek 05
Kick-off 7.10pm ACDT
Gates open 5.40pm ACDT
Venue: Coopers Stadium
Broadcast: Fox Sports
Stream: Kayo Sports, MyFootball Live App
