Adelaide United are looking to field a more balanced line up against Perth Glory when the two sides meet at Hindmarsh Stadium on Wednesday night after a injury-ravaged Reds were pumped 4-0 by Brisbane on Saturday.
United will welcome back star midfielder Marcos Flores who missed the Roar clash as did injured striker Matthew Leckie (knee) and defender Daniel Mullen (ankle).
Short-term signing Cameron Watson, who has been used by coach Rini Coolen at right back in the absence of Mullen, felt ill on the day of the Brisbane game and Coolen was forced to reshuffle his line up with Adam Hughes plugging the hole in defence.
The Reds head into Wednesday night’s clash bolstered by the return of Flores, while Watson has recovered from his illness meaning he will start in defence and Coolen can select his ‘preferred’ midfield including Hughes, Flores and Paul Reid.
“Now we have options on the right side, Watson can play there but also Fabian (Barbiero) can play there which is another option,” he said.
“Flores is back, he’s 100 percent fit. That’s the reason we couldn’t take the risk last game because we knew that he would be 100 percent fit for tomorrow.”
“It gives you more balance because you can play with your own midfield with Reidy and Hughesy. That’s better than the midfield positions in our last game so it feels good and it feels comfortable with the same system we prefer to play.”
Captain Travis Dodd still isn’t ready to command a spot in the first XI with Coolen happy to employ the speedster as an impact player off the bench.
“He’ll still start on the bench. He’s still not 100 percent but he’s good enough to come in and change the game if it’s necessary. I hope as soon as possible in the future he can play a full 90 minutes for us.”
Coolen refused to use injuries as an excuse for the 4-0 drubbing.
The Dutchman did concede however that going into the top-of-the-table clash without four first choice players had an impact on the outcome and result.
“It’s easy to find excuses for that but you have to be reasonable,” he said.
“If you have those players available, the bigger and faster players in some positions and especially if you play a game with the level like our last two opponents. You need everybody available also during the game you can change.”
“But it’s not an excuse, there are still good players on the pitch and they’re good enough to win a game like tomorrow but probably it wasn’t good enough for the level like last week against Brisbane.”
Coolen admitted he was cautious heading into the Glory match with Perth not recording a win since September 5 and losing eight of their last nine starts.
“I think they haven’t played well in the last weeks,” he said.
“I think they are looking for a victory moment and every game is a tough game in our league. But, if we just watch our own team, and we’ve had some problems the last few games, but I saw our training today and the way we trained yesterday we are definitely ready for the next game.”
