Adelaide United captain Eugene Galekovic insists the Championship is the only thing on the Reds’ mind heading into this weekend’s sold-out Semi Final at Coopers Stadium.
Adelaide will hostĀ Melbourne City for a spot in this season’s Grand FinalĀ on Friday night, having already claimed the clubās first PremiersĀ Plate since the 2005/06 campaign.
Whilst Unitedās winning of the trophy was a massive achievement for the club, considering it was winless until Round 9 of the domestic competition,Ā GalekovicĀ has stated he and his teammates have moved on from the triumph and are only thinking about lifting the famous āToilet Seatā.Ā
āThe Championship is the biggest trophy to win in Australia so thatās the one I want more,ā Galekovic said. āWinning the trophy on the day in such a big game is what the players want too.Ā
āEveryone around the Club is very excited at the moment. Weāve had the week off and the boys just want to get out there and play.Ā
āItās Finals football and everyone wants to be part of it.āĀ
As Premiers, the Reds were entitled to a week off from competitive football whilst the sides ranked third to sixth battled it out in Elimination Finals for the remaining two spots in the Semi-Finals.
Unitedās benefits to finishing at the top of the league after Round 27 also extends to playing the lowest ranked side in their home Semi-Final, which, after Brisbane Roar defeated Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City defeated Perth Glory, means the Reds will battle it out against John van ‘t Schipās Citizens.Ā
Galekovic has welcomed the visit from City ahead of Fridayās match, saying Unitedās recent 2-0 win over the Victorian side will go a long way in his squad advancing to the Grand Final ahead of Melbourne.Ā
āThe week off has enabled us to manage our bodies quite well and this week will be all about how weāre going to play against Melbourne City,ā he said.Ā
āIt doesnāt matter who you play in the Finals because if you donāt perform youāll lose.Ā
āWeāve learned a lot from just playing them in our last game so we kind of know how they play, but itās about preparing for it and making sure that weāre ready to fight through the 90 minutes on Friday night.
āWeāre playing at Coopers and we want to perform in front of our crowd.
āItās going to be a big game and itās all about getting the job done.āĀ
Hyundai A-League 2016 Semi Final 1 āĀ SOLD OUT
Adelaide United (1st) v Melbourne City (4th)
Friday 22 April 2016
Coopers Stadium, Adelaide
7:15pm kick off (7.45pm AEST)