The Reds will get another gauge of where they are at with a clash against Melbourne Victory in Launceston on Friday night.
After successfully accounting for Melbourne Heart earlier in the week, Adelaide United FC is chasing another encouraging performance against the Hyundai A-League-s other Victorian club, Melbourne Victory, at Aurora Stadium in Launceston tomorrow night (Friday 24 August 2012).
In what will be the fourth meeting at the Tasmanian venue between the fierce rivals, the Reds are up and about having built a solid fitness base over the past six and half weeks.
Tuesday night-s 2-1 win over the Heart gave Coach John Kosmina a chance to continue trialling different combinations and get some valuable game time into a number of his players. Reflecting on the 90 minute it out against the Heart, Kosmina was generally pleased with what he saw.
“It worked alright. We were a little bit down on numbers. Ozzie (Malik) came in and that was a good test for him because we missed him in the last couple of games of the ACL that we-ve played in…Iain Fyfe played at the back with Jon McKain – it-s the first time we-ve partnered those two and it worked alright,” Kosmina said.
“Dario (Vidosic) played on the inside of midfield, Cam Watson played a bit higher up than he has in the past, so overall the experimentation aspect of it was good and we-ll continue with that in Tasmania tomorrow night.”
The Victory are certain to provide another stern test for Kosmina-s men. Under new coach Ange Postecoglou, the Victory are also unbeaten in their pre season games so far.
While it may only be a pre season encounter, Kosmina expects there to still be plenty of fire in the belly, especially as it could be the first time Victory-s star signing Marcos Flores comes up against his former club.
Much has been made of Flores- decision to join the Victory n the off season, but while it has created a stir amongst fans and in the media, Kosmina says within the club, it is a non issue.
“From our point of view, from the team and the club overall, Marcos went to Melbourne, it-s no big deal,” Kosmina said.
“If the fans want to wage a campaign against him when he comes here, that-s all well and good, but from our perspective I don-t really care – I-m not interested.”
On from that, Kosmina also dismissed any suggestion that Flores would be singled out come kick-off.
“No! What for? We want to get stuck into all of them,” Kosmina replied when asked whether Flores would be targeted for any special treatment.
“If I told the players to get stuck into anybody it-d be Musky (Kevin Muscat) on the bench, but that might be left for me,” Kosmina said with more than a hint of tongue in cheek.
However, Kosmina stated the priority was for his team to take another step forward in its progression towards being ready for the opening leg of the AFC Champions League Quarter Final on September 19.
“It-s about the process more so than the result. If we get the processes right and you get players doing the right things in the right areas then the results will come,” Kosmina said.
“Obviously because it-s Melbourne Victory there-s going to be a little bit more to it than a friendly game because there is always a little bit of angst between the two clubs which is great, especially with the Marcos (Flores) issue, so there will be little bit of extra spice.”
“But it-s more about getting our processes right and getting through a good 90 minutes against good opposition.”
Captain Eugene Galekovic stayed in Melbourne following the Heart match due to a corked thigh but will travel with the team to Launceston, although Kosmina is playing it safe with the inspirational goalkeeper.
“Whether he (Galekovic) plays or not tomorrow night we-ll see…if it-s a risk situation he won-t play,” Kosmina said.
New Argentine signings Marcelo Carrusca and Jeronimo Morales Neumann have both travelled with the squad but will not play against Melbourne. Carrusca is recovering from a calf strain, while the club is not going to rush Morales Neumann in after he only arrived in Adelaide last weekend.
The previous three games between the teams at Aurora Stadium have seen the Reds record two wins and a draw.
Kick-Off tomorrow night is at 6.30pm ACST.
