Newcastle Jets coach Gary van Egmond is ‘wary’ of a confident Adelaide side ahead of their Round Six Hyundai A-League clash at Hindmarsh Stadium this Saturday night.
The Reds looked slick in their 1-0 victory over the Kashima Antlers on Wednesday night and will be flying high after becoming the first Australian team to qualify for the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League.
While van Egmond admits the Reds will be high on confidence he said he would be endeavouring to maintain focus on the things they can control and not worry too much about the mental state of the opposition.
“We’re not really going to buy too much into it, I’ll be honest with you, and we’re really just going to concentrate on us,” van Egmond told the media on Thursday.
“It’s most important for us to get our tactics right and the way that we approach the game. They’re going to be a very, very good team, no matter who they put out.”
The Jets boss said the Reds also looked a very skilled team in their 1-1 draw with the Antlers in their first round tie just over a week ago before being thumped 3-0 by Sydney FC in their Hyundai A-League last weekend.
But with Adelaide coach Aurelio Vidmar employing a massive team rotation on that occasion and the ‘jet-lag’ factor also playing a part, van Egmond said this weekend will be a totally different set of circumstances.
“It’s going to be a bit of a different scenario with the fact that they don’t have to travel and, as you said, they’ve actually won the tie and they’ll be on a high,” he said.
“It depends on what Viddie’s going to do in regards to his squad and how he’s going to play it. He opted for a rotational system when he played Sydney, he may do the same, he may not.”
“We can’t worry about that. We’ve got to worry about us, we’ve got to make sure that we’re right with what we’re doing and build on the performances, especially of the last 2 weeks, when we’ve kept two clean sheets and we’ve had a win. “
“But we know it’s going to be a very tough game and mentally we have to tune ourselves in.”
In a blow for the Jets, marquee striker Edmundo Zura has been forced out of the squad with a back injury but Danish import Jesper Hakansson returns after being cleared of concussion he received at training last week that sidelined for the match against Queensland Roar.
Midfielder Adam Griffiths is also in doubt after suffering a corked thigh at training on Tuesday but van Egmond is confident the durable defensive player will be fit for the match on Saturday.
