United Media spoke to Adrian Stenta at Adelaide Airport before his side took to the skies to head across to Sydney for Unite Round, which kicks off tomorrow.
Stenta on Unite Round…
“We’re very excited for Unite Round. I think it’s a great concept. It gives us an opportunity to play at a venue with other teams and also to watch some other teams play live as well. Having everyone there—the men’s teams, the women’s teams—all together for one round is a great idea, and we hope people come out and support.”
Stenta on the Reds’ form heading into Round 4…
“Yeah, I think we’re performing quite well, and I’m happy with how the group is training, continuing to work hard, and looking to improve. We’ve had some positive results as well. It’s not easy to win games in this league, so it’s a good reward for the effort the playing group has put in. I hope they continue to train hard and perform well, as they have done throughout preseason and the season so far.”
Stenta on the side’s strong start to the campaign defensively…
“Yeah, we’re defending well collectively as a team and as a unit. Our defenders at the back, in particular, have been outstanding. They’ve come up against some pretty decent strikers in the last couple of weeks and have more than held their own. There’s a real willingness and strong mindset to be as defensively sound as we can be and to make it really hard for other teams to score against us.”
Stenta on the Matildas’ call-up for Matilda McNamara…
“Yeah, I’m really proud of Matilda. It’s something she definitely deserves. She’s come back into our group and been outstanding, and I think she deserves her opportunity at that level. I’m sure she’ll take it if it’s provided to her. I also think there are two or three other players in our squad who deserve a look in as well and are a bit unlucky not to be called up this time. Hopefully, we’ll see more national team call-ups across various age groups for Adelaide United players in the future.”
Stenta on the health of the squad…
“We’ll go in with a fairly similar squad to previous weeks. The players are healthy, fit, and have been playing well, so they deserve the opportunity to continue playing each week.”
Stenta on our opponents tomorrow afternoon…
“I think they’ve been performing quite well across the three rounds, even if the results might not show that. They’re going to provide some challenges for us, and we’re going to need to be at our best if we want to get something out of the game.”
