Adelaide United are embracing their next challenge, as they are set to face Newcastle Jets in Round 11 of the Westfield W-League at McDonald Jones Stadium on Friday night.
The Reds will be seeking a victory over the Novocastrians, to begin to cement a positive end to the season and bounce back from their 6-1 defeat to Canberra United.
Meanwhile, the second-placed Jets will want to further establish their spot with the three points following a 2-2 draw with Sydney FC.
In the last meeting between the two sides, it was Newcastle who emerged victorious, as they held on to their 2-1 win despite an attacking onslaught from Adelaide.
Head Coach, Ivan Karlovic said that missed opportunities on goal has proven costly for his side this season and their aim now is to become ruthless in front of goal.
“It’s come down to not converting our opportunities,” Karlovic said.
“And on the weekend against Canberra United, there wasn’t enough opportunities to win a game of football.
“If you don’t score goals, you don’t win and if silly errors are made you won’t get a result because you haven’t been working hard enough.
“We need to find that and until we have the ability to score consistently we won’t get our desired results.
“There was a period in that match where we had about six shots on goal and Canberra had only one corner.
“And in the last seven minutes of the first half, we turned the ball over and made some errors that we got punished for.
“And when you have shots on goal and take them, that is a sign of a good side and we need to become that.
“We’ll need to be ruthless in front of goal, consistently, and it starts on the training ground where high standards need to be set.
“It is a tough competition and you need to be at your very best each week.”
Karlovic stressed the significance of matching the intensity of Newcastle this week, and punish them by scoring goals.
“This week will be another tough game, and Newcastle are a side that work extremely hard,” Karlovic continued.
“They are a side full of great players, and if we don’t match their intensity, we won’t get a result.
“We’ll also need to convert our chances, as last time we played them, we hit the woodwork twice and missed a number of opportunities once again.
“We can’t keep doing that, especially if you want to be a contender and taken seriously.
“We have to punish sides after dominating in those periods of good football that we play.
“We need to be hungry and want to win, we are a young side and still finding our way but we’ll need to learn quickly and we will definitely work hard towards that.”
The AUFC Women take on Newcastle Jets Women on Friday, 12 January at McDonald Jones Stadium. Kick-off is 4:50pm ACDT. Live coverage on Fox Sports and SBS VICELAND.
