Adelaide United defender, Tarek Elrich, has bemoaned the squad’s inability to finish off Central Coast Mariners in last weekend’s 2-1 loss, but said the Reds are more than ready to bounce back against league leaders, Perth Glory.
“I don’t think we played a bad game (against Central Coast), but obviously the result wasn’t what we were looking for and those results are the ones that hurt the most,” Elrich said.
“(Now we’ve) lost to Newcastle (Round 11) and Central Coast away from home where we were in the game for most of it (both times), but these things happen.
“To be honest, I think we just didn’t punish them. We got 1-0 up and started cruising through the game a bit, but against Newcastle the game before we scored that first goal and then went for the next and the next and ended up with seven.
“We have plenty of quality in the team. But credit to (the Mariners) because they kept fighting and came back late and got two goals.
“It’s good that we’re playing against a quality team (Perth Glory) back at home (this week). The boys are ready to go and we’re working on what we did wrong (last week) so we can make sure we fix the problems.”
And when asked about how Josep Gombau’s side will handle the current A-League front-runners, Elrich stated that it was simply about playing the Reds’ style and understanding how crucial the three points are in closing the gap at the top of the table.
“We’ll play our normal game and because we’re at home we’ll use that to our advantage. Hopefully the fans will come out and support and get us through this one.
“We need to win more than (Perth) do because if we don’t beat them, they go seven points clear of us. It’s a massive game and if we win, we’re just one point behind them with plenty of games left.
“They’re at the top of the table for a reason and they’re the team that everyone’s chasing at the moment. We’ll be focussing on ourselves and hopefully we get the result.”
For the rest of the season Elrich believes it will be consistency that will determine United’s overall success in their push for the A-League Championship – something the Reds’ will be looking to regain in the coming fixtures.
“We know we need consistency. We played two quality games (against the Glory before the break and then against the Jets), but we didn’t get the result (against Central Coast). It’s about making sure that when we go to every game we’re confident that we will win and make sure we do what we’re told.
“We have to keep doing what we’ve been doing and keep working on the things we have been all season. For us, we do have the confidence (in each other) and we know we’re a quality team. “
Adelaide United will host Perth Glory in Round 17 of the Hyundai 2014/15 A-League season on Sunday, 15 February at Coopers Stadium. Kick off at 4.30pm ACDT. To purchasce tickets, click here.
