Guillermo Amor and Pablo Sanchez have agreed Western Sydney Wanderers will be another difficult opponent in Round 2 of the Reds’ 2015/16 season.
With Adelaide United unable to overcome Melbourne Victory at Adelaide Oval last week, having to settle for a 0-0 stalemate, and Western Sydney Wanderers succumbing to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Brisbane Roar, both sides are desperate not to go into Round 3 without a win.
Last week, young goalkeeper, John Hall, made his starting debut for the Reds and will once again be called up after United Captain, Eugene Galekovic, was ruled out for up to six weeks with a knee injury.
This, as well as a couple of other injuries, will seemingly deplete the Reds’ squad, meaning Guillermo Amor’s men will have to step up for those absent, something he feels the squad is more than capable of doing, in particular Hall.
“Eugene has the problems with his knees and has had the arthroscopy to fix it, but now he will not be able to play for (up to) six weeks,” Amor said.
“I am very confident in John Hall being our ‘keeper for this game. He is prepared, he’s hungry, and he really wants to play.
“In the last game against Melbourne Victory he played very good and I’m sure tomorrow will be the same for him.
“The whole team is only thinking about winning. We thought about winning the last game against Victory, we’re thinking about winning against Western Sydney. This is always our thought because our mentality is to win as many games as we can.
“We want to look back at the end of this season proud of our year and happy with our results. We won’t settle for (mediocrity), we want to push for success.”
Elaborating on what he is anticipating from the Wanderers, Amor said it would be foolish to assume anything other than a true challenge, despite the numerous changes their squad has gone through throughout pre-season.
“We are expecting another difficult game because they will not want to lose two games in a row so early in the season,” he explained.
“The Wanderers have a lot of players that are new players to their team. It will be difficult for them at the start of the season, which is natural.
“They might be trying to put in a new system as well and these things take time. But last week Western Sydney had some good chances and will be dangerous (against us).”
Reds forward, Pablo Sanchez agreed with his coach in all aspects, saying Galekovic’s unavailability will be an obstacle for United, but it won’t be anything they can’t overcome.
Looking at his personal game, Pablo Sanchez went on to say how he has been under an injury cloud in recent weeks, but has finally come out the other side of it, completing the team’s final training before game day with ease.
“I’m personally coming back from a slight injury, but I’m getting better and I trained very well today and felt good,” Pablo Sanchez said.
“I’m ready to play if I am needed and I want to start doing well and doing what I know I can do, scoring goals and helping the team win matches.”
Reflecting on the match being played at Coopers Stadium, Pablo Sanchez said it will feel like the team is returning home due to the long pre-season, giving the side extra excitement ahead of the match, increasing their hunger for victory.
“It’s going to be very good to be back here at Coopers for this game,” he continued.
“We know the stadium and it feels like home. It’s always nice to go back home.
“Like always, we’re working really hard to get the three points and to continue our good start to the season with four points out of six.
“We’re excited for the match and we feel like we can do the job tomorrow because of how hard we’ve worked to prepare for it.”
Adelaide United will face Western Sydney Wanderers in Round 2 of the Hyundai A-League 2015/16 season at Coopers Stadium on Friday, 16 October 2015. Kick-off is at 7.10 pm.
