Adelaide United Head Coach, Carl Veart, is expecting a typically difficult encounter when his side faces Perth Glory on Sunday evening.
With the Reds departing for Western Australia on Saturday afternoon, Veart took his players through their final session in front of fans at Coopers Stadium and spoke to media post-training.
Reflecting on recent weeks:
“Our performances have been good.
“We just haven’t been able to find the back of the net as regularly as we had done previously.
“But we’re very confident in the way that we’re going at the moment and we’re very happy with where we’re sitting.”
Perth test:
“It’s going to be a difficult game.
“They get a lot of numbers behind the ball, so it’s just important that we’re patient tomorrow and make the most of opportunities that we create.”
Fitness updates:
“At this time of the season, we’ve got a few players that have been carrying a few knocks over the course of the season.
“So it’s just about managing their loads, being aware that we got finals coming up.
“(Hiroshi Ibusuki) has been carrying an injury now for about the last four weeks and it’s something that we’ve just been managing from week to week.
“Zach will be a push for next Friday, so we’ll most likely make him available for the first Finals game.
“(But) you’ve got a squad and and it’s important that the players, when they’re given opportunities throughout the season, that they step up.
“And as you said, Bernardo will have an opportunity tomorrow to show what (we’ve) been missing (from him) all season because we haven’t had him available yet.”
Open training:
“It’s very important for the club, that we have the support of our fans, but it’s also important that we give back to our fans as well.
“It’s how the club was first set up, it was a club for the fans.
“It’s important that we… get back out into the community as much as we can and get in touch with our fans as much as we can.”