Adelaide United attacker Ben Halloran has warned his side cannot be complacent against Sydney FC this week, despite the Sky Blues sitting bottom of the Isuzu UTE A-League ladder.
The game at Coopers Stadium on Saturday night will see the top placed Reds looking to keep their unbeaten start to the campaign going.
Speaking with the media on Monday afternoon, Halloran said he expected Steve Corica’s side to be desperate to win, given it is so far winless after three matches.
The 31-year-old also spoke about his teammate Nestory Irankunda’s send off in the one-all draw to Melbourne Victory at the weekend, his side’s strong start to the campaign, and Alexandar Popović and Steven Hall being called up to represent the Olyroos.
Ben Halloran on his reflections of the one-all draw against Melbourne Victory:
“I think we probably weren’t at our best. Victory started really, really well and probably had the better of the chances. So, getting a point in the end was probably a good result. I think we were happy in the end with a point. We were obviously going there to win but off the back of the first two games, we went in with a lot of confidence.
“Credit to Victory they actually played really, really well and in the end, we could have snatched away the chance right at the end. But I think, upon reflection, the whole game across the 90 minutes, I think a point was probably deserved.”
Ben Halloran on Nestory Irankunda being sent off and who might replace him this weekend:
“I haven’t really spoken to him directly, but he’s fine. Red cards happen in football. It probably was a foul on Nestor. I think he probably did overreact. We don’t accept speaking to the referees like that within our team across competition so it’s a learning experience for Nestor. As I said, these things happen in football and can’t happen again. He’s a very exciting and dangerous player so we will probably miss him going forward but we have a lot of depth in our squad.”
Ben Halloran on whether the best players need to be protected more by referees:
“I think referees should just be treating every player equally. Award fouls based on their merit not the player.”
Ben Halloran on the targeting of Nestory Irankunda by Victory players:
“Emotions are high after a game. Sticking the boot in I think is a little unsportsmanlike by Connor Chapman. But Nestor is a very, very good player, and is going to be targeted by opposing teams so we’ve just got to make sure that we protect him within our own team.”
Ben Halloran on what he is expecting from bottom of the ladder Sydney on Saturday night:
“I think it’s probably too early in the season to draw any draw any conclusions. Sydney haven’t started well, but across the last few years, they’ve always been one of the strongest teams so I think we can’t take them lightly. And if anything, they’re going to be very, very desperate to win so I think we have to be even more prepared in that sense.”
Ben Halloran on Alexandar Popović and Steven Hall being called into the Olyroos side for friendly matches in Saudi Arabia next week:
“Good on him for getting called up along with Steven Hall our one of our substitute goalkeepers. It’s always an honor to be called up for your country. As far as I know, his knees are right and he played very well against Victory in my opinion. He’s still very young but he’s been a pretty important cog in our team for the last few years so he’s just picking up where he left off just playing very well.”
Ben Halloran on his side’s start to the season:
“I think you always want to start on the front foot. It’s the best start we’ve had to a season I think, for a very long time. I think having that early momentum is very important that the season is quite short comparatively to the overseas competitions. We just need to keep building that momentum because, you know, once you win a few games on the bounce, you can really surge ahead in this competition.”
