Adelaide United Youth Captain, Paul Wilson, believes his side can take confidence into their second round Elimination Final clash with MetroStars given their form and recent history against the Klemzig-based club.
The Young Reds advanced to the second week of the National Premier League 2018 Finals Series following a stirring 3-1 win over Adelaide Comets in last weekend’s do-or-die match.
Taras Gomulka opened the scoring before Carlo Armiento added a first-half brace.
Wilson said he was delighted with the team’s performance against the Comets in their maiden finals appearance and in such a high-pressure situation.
“Obviously it was a really important win,” Wilson said.
“Probably the most important of the season I think.
“It was a massive occasion for us and we rose and we were able to match it and we were able to come out on top.”
However, much of the lead up to Saturday’s game was the uncertainty surrounding just who Adelaide would be facing – MetroStars or Adelaide Olympic, despite the former beating the latter 1-0 in extra-time and an investigation from the FFSA.
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Wilson said that situation has not affected the squad’s preparation as they are just focusing on themselves.
“I think that was more or less their problem to deal with,” he said.
“I think we just kind of stayed out of it, focused on ourselves and obviously we know we have to verse Metro.
“So we have to prepare to face Metro I think that really wasn’t on our minds too much and we’re just focusing on ourselves.”
In the regular season, Paul Pezos’ side were more than competitive in their two encounters with Metro.
United lost 4-3 with the last kick of the game, playing with 10 men for the majority of the match, while recording a 2-1 come-back win in Round 14.
“We’ve put up a fight against them with ten men for close to seventy minutes and we’ve beaten them with eleven men,” he said.
“So I think we can come into this game quite confident that we can get a result.
“It’s well within our capabilities that we can come out on top.”
Wilson stated he was adamant if the Young Reds can remain composed and play to the best of their ability against the third-placed outfit than they have a real chance of progressing.
“It’ll just be another case of just staying focused, staying calm,” he continued
“Don’t get too bothered by the occasion, just worry about our own jobs and obviously they’ve got quality but so do we.
“So we just have to bring it to them, bring our best game and we’ll be fine.”
Adelaide United Youth face MetroStars in the Elimination Final of the National Premier League 2018 Finals Series on Saturday, 19 August at TK Shutter Reserve. Kick-off is at 2.30 PM.
