Adelaide United Head Coach, Carl Veart has given his final thoughts prior to his side’s crunch Second Leg Semi Final against Central Coast Mariners in Gosford.
United were undone 1-2 in front a packed Coopers Stadium last Saturday night against a Mariners side full of confidence.
Veart spoke to a crowded media contingent at Adelaide Airport this morning before the Reds departed for the coast.
On overturning the one-goal deficit:
“It’s a do-or-die final and they’re all big.
“In the last two games (against Mariners) we just haven’t played at our maximum level and in the second half last week we were a lot closer to where we need to be.
“We want to start on the front foot and hopefully get an early goal again.
“We did that last week at Coopers but we sat back a little and let them back into the game, and we can’t do that against a quality opposition.
“It’s important we keep our focus and play to our best level for the entirety of the match.
“We know what we have to do and if we play our brand of football and execute well, we will have success.”
How will you position the squad for this Second Leg?:
“We’ll see after training today in Gosford who can take up that central striker role (with Hiroshi Ibusuki ruled out with a calf injury).
“We’ve got plenty of options, George (Blackwood) has been called upon in recent times and Luka (Jovanović) has done a job there for a long part of the season.
“Nick (Ansell) took a heavy knock and it has taken a while to settle down, but he has trained well in this latter part of the week and it’s looking positive at the moment.”
The Irankunda effect:
“Nestor (Nestory Irankunda) is right in the mix (for a starting position), and we know he’s an exciting player who causes a lot of issues for opposition teams.
“It’s a matter of us working out if we want that impact straight from the beginning or hold onto it towards the end.
“You can see in the last month and a half with the more minutes that Nestor has played, the impact that he’s had on games.
“While that hasn’t translated to goals, and of course he’s disappointed with that, he’s always causing a problem for the opposition.
“We’ll back Nestor in against everyone and he’s always wanting to play and show what he can do which is why we love him so much.”
Match details:
Isuzu UTE A-League 2022/23 Season – Semi Final (Second Leg)
Central Coast Mariners vs Adelaide United
Saturday, 20 May 2023, Kick-off: 7:15pm (ACST)
Central Coast Stadium
