Adelaide United Liberty A-League coach Adrian Stenta has admitted he has enjoyed watching Perth Glory play so far this season but remains confident his side can inflict the West Australian club’s first defeat of the season on Saturday night.
Stenta’s side has only claimed one point in its opening three games, but with experienced players Isabel Hodgson, Maruschka Waldus and Nanako Sasaki back in the fold from injury, the Reds are eager to travel back to Adelaide on Sunday with its first win of the campaign.
Speaking with the media on Friday after the side’s final training run, Stenta left it open as to whether any of his returning stars will start the game.
He also discussed what has been going wrong for his team so far and what he has made of the Glory’s three wins from three games.
Adrian Stenta on what he needs to see from his side in order for it to get its first win of the season:
“It’s not so much anything specifically that we need to fix. It’s more just about the consistency in the way that we play our football. At times, we’ve been able to play some good stuff. And then other times we’ve been a little bit below our best. So, it’s probably mainly about being consistent and trying to minimise the gap between when we’re playing well, and when we’re a little bit off.
“We have introduced a lot of new players. So that consistency was always going to be an issue. And we’ve also had some players missing for periods of time throughout the preseason as well with injury and other things like that so it has been a little bit challenging to try and integrate everyone and get them on the same page. But with time, it’s getting better and I think we’ll see a really strong performance this week.”
Adrian Stenta on whether captain Isabel Hodgson and vice-captain Maruschka Waldus are ready to start against the Glory after returning from injury off the bench last week:
“Both of those players will be pushing to potentially start. We’ll make a decision about which way we go with that. And then other players returning to the fold as well like Nano Sasaki as well comes back into the squad too so we’re slowly getting healthier and getting some players back. And we’re looking forward to seeing how they contribute to our team’s performances.”
Adrian Stenta on an ankle injury that is keeping Emilia Murray out of this week’s lineup:
“Not 100{9316bdc8926ea12fd3218e9df0be06a03991e545af91e98c723bc822f5d4d102} sure (how long she might be out), at this stage, it’s been a little bit like that, to be honest, this year. We’ve sort of taken a couple of steps forward, and then a step back with individual players and as a team as well. So it’s disappointing that Milsy won’t be out there this weekend and we’ll know a little bit more once we speak to the medical staff about what her long term plans look like.
Adrian Stenta on what he has made of Perth Glory so far this year:
“They’ve obviously had a fantastic start to the year. They’re sitting on top of the table and they’ll be coming into the game full of confidence. So, it’s a team I’ve enjoyed watching play just as a neutral not as a coach.
“We expect a really stern test from them but we enjoy going over to Perth and playing over there so we’re going to give it our best effort to try and come away with the victory.”
Adrian Stenta on the number of teenage players emerging in the Liberty A-League this season:
“There’s some positive things about it and then there’s some questions that could be raised about playing players that young as well. For me, though, age is just a number so if they’re good enough and they deserve the opportunity, regardless of how old they are, then they should play.”
