Eugene Galekovic says the Reds are planning to be the ones dictating the terms in their top of the table showdown with the Central Coast Mariners in Gosford on Friday night.
Adelaide United captain Eugene Galekovic says the Reds are planning to be the ones dictating the terms in their top of the table showdown with the Central Coast Mariners in Gosford on Friday night.
Heading to play in enemy territory against a team that has recorded six wins and a draw at home this season, it may signal that the Reds face a mammoth task but Galekovic does not believe a favourable result is beyond them.
The Mariners have been made to settle for draws in their past two games and Galekovic is of the view that if the Reds can set the intensity level and put the league leaders on the back foot early, becoming the first team to win in Gosford this season is a real possibility.
“They (the Mariners) are a hard working team. They all work hard to get possession back and they can score goals too, but they-re in a similar situation to us where they probably haven-t had the results they were after in the past few weeks…so hopefully we come out in the first minute, put pressure on them and get the crowd on their back,” Galekovic said.
“We discuss it every week how important it is to turn up and put pressure on the other teams…if you don-t turn up and the other team plays a little bit better they will beat you, so it-s about turning up every week, it doesn-t matter who you play, and getting as many points as you can on the day.”
“You go into every game wanting to win, it just depends how the game pans out, but we-re going there to win the game.”
A win in Friday night-s first versus second contest will see the Reds go equal on points with the Mariners, while also addressing a run of just one point from their last four away games and make amends for last Friday-s loss to Melbourne Heart.
“The result obviously didn-t go our way (against Melbourne Heart), the second half we didn-t play too well but there-s another chance this week to go equal top on the table,” Galekovic said.
“The Central Coast are a tough team to play over there but we-ll be up for it and we want top spot.”
Galekovic missed the Reds- 2-1 loss to the Mariners in Gosford back in Week 9 as he was away with the Qantas Socceroos, the inspirational keeper-s leadership certain to be of added benefit for this trip to Bluetongue Stadium.
Friday-s match marks the first in a huge three weeks for the Reds. With home games against Western Sydney Wanderers and Melbourne Victory, the other two clubs in the top four, to follow the clash with the Mariners, the Reds will get a serious indication of where they sit in the pecking order as the race for positions in the finals starts to heat up.
“It-s massive,” Galekovic said of the next three weeks.
“Our next three games are against the other three top teams in the league and it starts this week.”
“If we drop a couple we could go down to fourth and if we win a couple we could go top, so it will have a bearing on the season and I-m looking forward to it.”
Defender Nigel Boogaard is available for selection after getting through 90 minutes with the Reds- Youth Team on Sunday, while Argentinean Marcelo Carrusca trained with the main group today to suggest he could also be an outside chance of being selected. Striker Bruce Djite completed a modified program today and is likely to be another week from returning.
