Adelaide United Head Coach Airton Andrioli and goalkeeper Joshua Smits say the Reds are focused on responding when they face Lion City Sailors in Singapore tonight.
United’s AFC Champions League Two Group F Matchday Four clash kicks off at Jalan Besar Stadium at 8:30pm ACDT.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Andrioli outlined his belief in the squad, while Smits discussed the opposition, drawing on his European experience and preparing for the conditions.
Andrioli on moving forward…
“We’re just putting behind us whatever happened a couple of days ago. We’re just focusing on this game.
“That’s how we’re approaching this, making sure that everyone is positive.
“We believe that we are a good football team. We’ve been doing well in Asia, and we want to continue on that path.”
Andrioli on executing the game plan…
“They’re extremely organised. They’ve got, as I said, a solid team. But we are also a good team, and we believe in what we do.
“Obviously, we’ve worked on the game plan, and we’re hoping that we can execute that as well.
“I always believe in a football match you can do maybe five, ten per cent to disrupt what the opposition wants to do, and I believe if we can do that tomorrow night, maybe we give ourselves a good chance to get a result.”
Smits on drawing on his European experience…
“It’s not the ideal situation that you have to travel so much with the airplane, but I’ve experienced this before in Europe.
“I played the Conference League in Europe, and we also played a lot of games and had to travel a lot in Norway.
“You just adapt the training intensity, and you focus more on tactics and on the matches themselves, and I think that will be fine.”
Andrioli on backing the players available…
“We’ve got lots of young players in the squad, very hungry to play football and prove themselves in this competition and prove to us that they can play.
“We have to focus on what we have now. We believe in the players that are here.
“We’re going to go into this game obviously respecting the opposition, but knowing that we’re also a football team that is more than capable of getting a result.”
Smits on preparing for Singapore…
“We played in Thailand as well, so the humidity is a little bit different here than in Australia.
“We know what to expect, and I think we are prepared for that.”
Match details
Lion City Sailors FC v Adelaide United
AFC Champions League Two — Group F, Matchday Four
Thursday 5 November 2026
Jalan Besar Stadium, Singapore
Kick-off: 6:00pm Singapore time / 8:30pm ACDT
