Midfielder Dario Vidosic is optimistic that the short turnaround to tomorrow night’s home match against the Newcastle Jets can help the Reds to gather steam three weeks out from the finals.
Midfielder Dario Vidosic is optimistic that the short turnaround to tomorrow night-s home match against the Newcastle Jets can help the Reds to gather steam three weeks out from the finals.
With a finals berth and top four spot all but assured, Vidosic says the Reds are now focused on continuing their resurgence after Monday night-s impressive result over Melbourne Heart.
The Reds- number 10, who knocked home his ninth goal of the season in the 2-0 result against the Heart, believes the performance at AAMI Park could well prove the thing to trigger United-s assault heading into the finals.
“Coming back home and with only three games left before the finals, it-s important not just leading into it, but just to get the confidence up and get the style of play we want to get going, which is basically to keep going from where we left off on Monday night against Melbourne Heart and progress from that,” Vidosic said.
“We were very happy with that performance (against the Heart). We controlled it and played well against a good team, so now it-s about building the momentum and putting it together against the Jets.”
For the Reds to record back to back wins for the fifth time this season, they will need to hit the ground running again just four days after their match with the Heart. While Vidosic admits it does present a challenge, he drew comparisons to the clash with the Jets back in Round 1 when the Reds were required to front up just days after playing an AFC Champions League Quarter Final in Uzbekistan.
“It-s a little bit tough on the legs, but sometimes it-s good to carry the momentum through and have two games in quick succession,” Vidosic said.
“No one gave us much of a chance when we played Newcastle in Round 1 after we flew back from our Asian Champions League game, we played very well that day and got the result, so we-ve done it before and we-ll be fine by tomorrow.”
In what is a bonus for the Reds but a disappointment for the football supporters of South Australia, Newcastle-s marquee striker, former England and English Premier League forward Emile Heskey, has not made the trip due to a calf injury.
However, despite Heskey-s absence, Vidosic knows the Jets have more than enough scoring power.
“You always want to compete against the best and he (Heskey) has been a very good player for the Jets this season,” Vidosic said.
“But at the same token they-ve got a lot of good young players that can come in and cause some headaches with their speed up front, and Bridges is a very intelligent player in behind them and with Zenon (Caravella) returning… we know there are a lot of players we need to be worried about.”
United Coach Michael Valkanis appears unlikely to make many if any changes to the team that beat the Heart, providing everyone that played has pulled up without any major soreness.
Striker Bruce Djite has fully recovered from an ankle injury and is up for selection, with only Osama Malik unavailable due to an ankle problem. With finals just around the corner, Vidosic says everyone in the squad is champing at the bit to be a part of it.
“Everyone wants to play, especially at this time of year,” Vidosic said.
“It-s very close to finals and crowds are going to get bigger, expectations are going to get higher and these are the games you want to be part of, so we-re really looking forward to it and I-m sure whichever eleven Micky (Valkanis) puts out, that everyone is going to give it their best and we need everyone.”
In what will be Adelaide United-s last Friday night home game of the season, Vidosic and co will be out to try and make it a perfect five from five from their Friday night fixtures at Hindmarsh Stadium.
Hyundai A-League 2012/13 Season – Week 25
ADELAIDE UNITED FC v NEWCASTLE JETS
Friday 15 March 2013, Hindmarsh Stadium
Kick-Off: 7.00pm ACDT
Referee: Lucien Laverdure
Tickets: Available through Ticketek (call 132849, online at www.ticketek.com.au)
TV: LIVE & Exclusive on Fox Sports 3
Radio: Grandstand Digital, online and on the ABC Smartphone App
Twitter: twitter.com/adelutd_fc (hash tag #REDSvJETS)
Adelaide United squad: 1.Eugene Galekovic (gk) (c), 3.Nigel Boogaard, 4.Jon McKain, 5.Iain Fyfe, 6.Cassio, 8.Marcelo Carrusca, 10.Dario Vidosic, 11.Bruce Djite, 14.Cameron Watson, 17.Iain Ramsay, 18.Fabian Barbiero, 19.Jake Barker-Daish, 20.Paul Izzo (gk), 21.Jeronimo Neumann, 22.Fabio Ferreira, 25.Tomi Juric
*One to be omitted
Ins: Bruce Djite (returns from injury)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Osama Malik (ankle)
Newcastle Jets squad: 1.Ben Kennedy (gk), 2.Scott Neville, 3.Zenon Caravella, 5.Dominik Ritter, 7.James Brown, 8.Ruben Zadkovich, 10.Bernardo Ribeiro, 11.Connor Chapman, 12.Josh Brillante, 14.Taylor Regan, 15.Craig Goodwin, 17.James Virgili, 18.Jacob Pepper, 19.Michael Bridges, 20.Mark Birighitti (gk), 21.Marko Jesic, 22.Adam Taggart, 25.Mitch Cooper, 26.Andrew Hoole
*Four to be omitted
Ins: Zenon Caravella (returns from injury), Taylor Regan (returns from suspension)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Ben Kantarovski (knee), Emile Heskey (calf), Sam Gallaway (knee)
Adelaide United vs. Newcastle Jets – Hyundai A-League HEAD TO HEAD Record
Played 24 – 10 wins, 7 draws, 7 losses
At Hindmarsh Stadium
Played 12; Adelaide United 6, Newcastle Jets 2, Draws 4
Last time they met
5-Jan-2013 Wk 15, Hyundai A-League 2012/13 Season at Hunter Stadium
Newcastle Jets 0
Adelaide United FC 0
