Adelaide United Youth Reserves Head Coach, Adrian Stenta, is hoping to see his side continue their rich vein of form against Adelaide Comets at the VALO Football Centre on Saturday.
United sit in equal second on the table following two straight wins in the league.
However, their attention turned to the FFSA Federation Cup last weekend which saw United dispatch Western Strikers Reserves 4-0 in the Round of 32.
Stenta said the cup provided a new set of challenges for his players to negotiate and stated the competition allowed him to rotate the squad.
“It was a good opportunity for the boys to experience something different,” he said.
“A cup competition is a knockout competition so we got to play against some different pressure associated to it.
“And it allowed me to even rotate the squad a little bit and get some game time into players that we needed to so it was a positive result.”
FAN DAY! Watch the @aufc_YouthTeam with our squad on Saturday, 27 April!
🖊 Signing session 2:15pm – 2:45pm
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⚽ NPL Kick-off 3:00pm, Reserves 12:45pm#AUFC #NPLSA pic.twitter.com/XCt77gbGsi— Adelaide United (@AdelaideUnited) April 20, 2019
That impressive result was preceded by an even better one in the league almost a fortnight ago after they recorded a 6-2 victory over MetroStars.
Stenta said he was particularly proud of that performance given they managed to dominate the game for the entire duration.
“It was a really positive result for the guys,” he said upon reflection.
“They played very well and we were just able to put together a consistent performance across ninety minutes which is something we haven’t been able to do too often this season.
“The boys have put together a few good performances in a row now so we’re looking to continue to build on that as the season progresses.”
Comets, who lie sixth, will be another tough proposition for the Young Reds.
Stenta intimated the side will be extra hungry to get the three points after they ended their season last year in the finals series.
“It will be a challenging match against Comets,” he said.
“We had some tight encounters with them last year and they were the team that eventually knocked us out of the final series as well quite comprehensively.
“So we’re really looking forward to having another go at them and playing against them this week and just seeing if we can continue our good form.
“There’s a good vibe in and amongst the playing of both squads at the moment and we just want to keep that going for as long as we possibly can.”
Adelaide United Youth host Adelaide Comets in Round 8 of the National Premier League 2019 season on Saturday, 27 April at VALO Football Centre – The Parks. Kick-off is at 3.00 PM. Reserves kick-off at 12.45pm.
