Adelaide United defender Taylor Regan is adamant the Reds can still make a genuine charge towards reaching the top six, before the end of the regular season.
The Reds will be looking to secure back-to-back home wins for the first time this campaign against an improved Phoenix outfit at Coopers Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Regan dismissed suggestions United’s campaign was over, insisting the squad remains optimistic they can book a finals berth.
“There’s 33 points still available, obviously 33 points is probably a little bit unrealistic, but there’s still 11 games to go,” Regain said.
“And we’ve seen in the competition if you string two or three wins together in a row, you climb up that ladder pretty quick.
“So we’re only eight points out of the (top) six, if we can get a positive result here this weekend moving forward with the Central Coast (Mariners), Perth (Glory) and Newcastle (Jets) coming up, the boys are still very positive.
“We have to get the three points in front of a big crowd with obviously kids getting in for free and things like that it’s going to make a good atmosphere.”
The Phoenix have not beaten or scored against Adelaide in their previous four matches, though the 28-year-old is anticipating a difficult clash with the sixth-placed side.
“It’s the A-League, if you show up on your day and you play well you can beat anyone,” Regan said.
“Wellington have come into form lately, obviously last week didn’t go well for them but they had a good week before (with wins against the Mariners and the Victory).
“It’ll be tough there’s no hiding from that, but warm temperatures, afternoon game here, they’re probably not used to that so we use these things to our advantage.”
Regan, who signed for the Club as an injury replacement at the start of the season, admitted the emphasis is now on getting results rather than worrying too much about the performance.
“Obviously I didn’t debut until more recently, I’ve had a couple of good performances, a couple not so good,” he continued.
“But now it’s just about rolling our sleeves up and doing the hard yards and we need three points.
“It doesn’t matter if it comes pretty ugly or whatever we need those points.
“The group is still together and that’s the main thing in times like these, the group has to be strong and it is.”
Adelaide United host Wellington Phoenix in Round 17 of the Hyundai A-League 2016/17 season on Sunday, 29 January at Coopers Stadium. Kick-off is at 4.30pm ACDT.
