With three goals in her previous two Liberty A-League matches Chelsie Dawber is in scintillating form.
The 21-year-old scored an emphatic first-half brace in last weekend’s 4-2 win against Perth Glory.
Dawber said scoring as a forward has certainly helped instil that confidence and belief, and is aiming to continue her goal-scoring run.
“Obviously, I’m really happy with my performance last week and getting on the scoresheet twice definitely gives me more confidence to keep taking those opportunities and continue my scoring form to allow my team to succeed,” Dawber said.
Adelaide tackle a Canberra United outfit in the Capital on Saturday afternoon for the second time this season, still searching for its first victory of the campaign.
The South Australians prevailed 2-1 back in December, courtesy of Emily Condon’s 91st minute winner.
Dawber said they must be prepared to face a desperate side, while focusing on themselves.
“I think Canberra will definitely be hungry and wanting to get their first win of the season for sure, especially as we have already beat them earlier in the season,” she said.
“However, they played earlier in the week, so we are hoping we can focus on ourselves and outrun them and take the three points.
“But we know every game is a battle and we need to come into the game focused and prepared to work hard.”
Dawber, who has scored 10 goals in 31 career Liberty A-League appearances, said the primary focus in training this week was to improve in transition without the ball and finishing.
“I think it’s easy after a win to only look at the positives,” she explained.
“But as a team we have done some video analysis and highlighted some key areas we want to improve on, such as our transition in defence and finishing.
“This will be very important going into this week’s game against Canberra with their playing style.”
The Reds have scored eight goals in four matches this season but have conceded 11 times and yet to register a clean sheet.
Dawber said it has been another area Adrian Stenta has continued to address with the Head Coach, lamenting the concession of avoidable goals.
“We have been great from an attacking perspective, but we are always looking to improve our combinations in the final third and take every opportunity we get to score,” she continued.
“We haven’t been able to keep a clean sheet so far this season, but we have been focusing on compressing the pitch and transition this week.
“It’ll be key in claiming a win and hopefully our first clean sheet of the season.”
Match details:
Saturday, 8 January vs Canberra United
Liberty A-League 2021/22 – Round 6
Kick-off 4.35pm ACDT
Venue: Viking Park
Stream: Paramount+
