Adelaide United defender, Taylor Regan, revealed the Reds are confident of causing an upset against Melbourne City at AAMI Park on Friday night.
The Reds are undefeated in their past five matches in all competitions and Regan hopes the Club’s recent form continues against one of their rivals.
It is the third meeting between the two sides this season, with Guillermo Amor’s men falling 2-1 in Round 4, before triumphing by the same scoreline in January, thanks to Mark Ochieng’s dramatic winner.
Last time out United recorded a 1-1 stalemate with Perth Glory at Coopers Stadium, while City suffered a 3-0 away loss to Premiers Sydney FC.
Regan insisted the team is completely focused on securing the three points against City first, before turning their attention to the AFC Champions League and Jeju United.
“We want to beat Melbourne City,” he affirmed.
“That’s probably one of the highlights of our season so far thinking back.
“That 2-1 victory at home, good crowd, Mark Ochieng’s first A-League goal, it was a good night.
“A result against Melbourne City is important, Jeju is obviously in the back of our mind, but (we’re taking it) one game at a time.”
Adelaide have tasted success in three of their previous four games against City, including a win in Melbourne during this period.
United’s clash with Melbourne will also be headlined by the implementation of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system. It is the first top-flight domestic match in the world to use the technology, after the Hyundai A-League’s decision to introduce the new system.
Meanwhile, centre-back Iacopo La Rocca returns to the side, after overcoming an injury sustained in Round 19 and Regan said he is a welcomed boost.
“It’s good to have him back,” Regan said.
“It’s an experienced squad that has travelled.
“On paper it’s a very strong squad and with our recent form we go their very confident knowing we have these experienced players in the squad again.”
With the Reds travelling to South Korea to face Jeju on Tuesday in a must-win match, Regan said the team will have enough time to recover, praising the squad’s depth.
“We’ve got a pretty full squad now, so I would expect there to be some rotations,” he said.
“That’s for the coaching staff (to work out), at the same time we’ve still got young players that are fresh.
“Isaias has just come back from an injury, he’s fresh.
“Myself, I didn’t play early in the season I’m pretty fresh.
“Dylan (McGowan) has played every minute of every game for the past two seasons – he can do it.
“You’ve got (Ben) Garuccio who can come back and fill in as a full-back.
“You’ve got options in the front third … So we can rotate and that’s a luxury we probably didn’t have 10 weeks’ ago.”
Adelaide United will face Melbourne City in Round 26 of the Hyundai A-League 2016/17 season on Friday, 7 April at AAMI Park. Kick-off is at 7.20pm ACST.
