Adelaide United defender, Ryan Kitto, says the injury sustained to teammate, Juande, against Melbourne City over the weekend has served as a reality check for him and the Reds.
Juande suffered a fracture to his right tibia and fibula and successfully underwent surgery on Monday in Melbourne.
Speaking to media at Coopers Stadium on Wednesday afternoon, Kitto reflected on the gravity of the situation, however highlighted the positivity of Juande’s spirit being a driving force for United moving forward.
Reflecting on Juande’s injury:
“I think sometimes (these) things happen in life and (you realise) there’s more important things than football.
“What happened to Juande was extremely disappointing for him as a person, but knowing Juande’s character and what he would want for the team, because he’s such a team orientated person, he will want us to move on from the situation.
“And if we can all play like he does and work hard and put in challenges like he does… will be in good stead for the rest of the season.”
Stepping into Juande’s shoes:
“Firstly, no one can replace Juande.
“But when something negative happens, there are opportunities for other people and I think we’ve seen the emergence of Ethan Alagich this season.
“He’s been doing a great job, works extremely hard, great attitude.
“And also Louis D’Arrigo, who likes to play in that holding midfield position and in the last couple of weeks also been doing really well.
“Then, obviously, accompanied by the experience of Isaías.
“There’s going to be opportunities there for players and it’s up to them now to make the most of their opportunity and take it.”
Chaining focus to Brisbane:
“Each game from here on in is very important.
“We’re sitting in the top six and we want to finish as high up as we can and home games are very important.
“We’ve had a good run here (at home).
“Our fans have been fantastic this season (with) the numbers they’ve turned out in every single week.
“And Brisbane this Saturday night, we hope is exactly the same because (the fans’) energy gives us energy and hopefully we can create a bit of a fortress here.”
