Adelaide United coach, Josep Gombau, has said his side know the importance of Friday night’s match with Melbourne Victory and promised to prepare for the game accordingly.
“We know the feelings of the people here in Adelaide about this kind of game against Melbourne Victory,” Gombau said.
“Tomorrow is a big opportunity for us to bring more people to our games, so we want to (play) a good game and try to win for our fans.”
Gombau said that although he is aware of the good football that Victory played against Western Sydney Wanderers in their season opening clash, he is more focussed on the way the Reds need to play to ensure they earn all three points at Adelaide Oval.
“Their game was very good. There was a big crowd there and good football and they won against Western Sydney who is one of the best teams in our league.
“But we are not afraid because of this. We also played a good game, in Brisbane, and we know very well about our own capacity and what we can do.
“This is what we are working on – we have our plan – and on (Friday) this is what we have to do.”
One of Gombau’s new men, Jimmy Jeggo, who was on the Victory books last season, has said all the players are focussed on playing their style of football and although there may be some tough challenges here and there, it’s of no concern.
“The game’s going to be played at a high intensity and because of that there will be some strong tackles,” Jeggo said.
“Whether it spills over will depend on the game, but we’ll stay focussed on playing the way we want to play and take the game to them.
“They’re dangerous as soon as you turn the ball over and over the last couple of years they’ve really worked on the speed of their counterattacking play.
“But if we have the majority of the ball and are organised when we do give it away then I think we should be able to close them down and I’m 100 per cent positive that when we’ve got the ball we’ll cause them problems.”
Jeggo also said that throughout the week he has felt the buzz of the city in anticipation of the match, which would have been helped by the result earned against the Roar.
This was reiterated by Gombau, who believes the quality of the league has undoubtedly increased this season and people are taking notice of how far the A-League has come, which he hopes will translate into an even greater supporter-base for the Reds.
“The three points are important, but there are always three points to be earned.
“If we want to bring the people of Adelaide to Coopers Stadium and to our games – Friday is a good day for it.
“But there is no pressure because we’ll do our job well.”
Adelaide United will face Melbourne Victory at Adelaide Oval on Friday 17 October. To purchase tickets, click here.
Friday, 17 October 2014
Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory
Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Kick-Off: 7:10 PM (Local) (7:40 PM AEDT)
Referee: Peter O’Leary
Assistant Referee 1: Matthew Cream
Assistant Referee 2: Anton Shchetinin
Fourth Official: Rick Schneider
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 1HD & 1 from 7.00pm (AEDT), live coverage on SBS One from 7.30pm AEDT and Sky Sport 3 (New Zealand)
Radio Broadcast: 891 ABC Adelaide, ABC Local radio SA, 774 ABC Melbourne, ABC Local Radio Victoria, 936 ABC Hobart and ABC Northern Tasmania, Grandstand Digital, ABC Grandstand Online/A-League Live Mobile phone app and 5AA 1395 AM (Adelaide)
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #ADLvMVC
Adelaide United FC squad: 1.Eugene GALEKOVIC (c) (GK), 2.Michael MARRONE, 3.Nigel BOOGAARD, 4.Dylan McGOWAN, 5.Osama MALIK, 6.CÁSSIO, 7.PABLO SÁNCHEZ, 8.ISAÍAS, 9.Sergio CIRIO, 10.Marcelo CARRUSCA, 11.Bruce DJITE, 16.Craig GOODWIN, 18.Jimmy JEGGO, 21.Tarek ELRICH, 22.Fabio FERREIRA, 24.Bruce KAMAU, 30.John HALL (GK), 32.Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 5.Osama MALIK (return from injury), 6.CÁSSIO (return from injury)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Cameron WATSON (toe – 2-3 weeks), Jordan ELSEY (wrist – 5weeks)
Melbourne Victory squad: 1.Nathan COE (GK), 2.Jason GERIA, 5.Mark MILLIGAN (c), 6.Leigh BROXHAM, 7.Gui FINKLER, 8.Besart BERISHA, 9.Kosta BARBAROUSES, 10.Archie THOMPSON, 11.Connor PAIN, 13.Andrew NABBOUT, 14.Fahid BEN KHALFALLAH, 15.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 16.Rashid MAHAZI, 17.Matthieu DELPIERRE, 20.Lawrence THOMAS (GK), 21.Carl VALERI, 22.Jesse MAKAROUNAS, 23.Adrian LEIJER
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 5.Mark MILLIGAN (returns from international duty), 13.Andrew NABBOUT (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 4.Nick ANSELL (foot – 3 weeks), 18.Dylan MURNANE (international duty), 24.Scott GALLOWAY (international duty), 26.Jordan BROWN (international duty)
