Adelaide United head coach Carl Veart has praised teenage Reds striker Luka Jovanovic for his response to being dropped for disciplinary reasons before coming back into the squad to score a 92nd-minute winner against Macarthur Bulls on Monday night.
Jovanovic was left out of Veart’s squad for Adelaide’s 3-2 loss to Western Sydney Wanderers in late December; asked to explain Jovanovic’s absence before the Round 10 fixture, Veart explained the decision was made due to the 19-year-old’s reaction to not receiving minutes against Sydney FC the game prior.
“We’re trying to teach these young players what it takes to get to that next level, and we weren’t happy with his attitude after the game last week,” said Veart at the time of Jovanovic’s squad absence.
“It’s a tough lesson for him to learn, but he needs to learn that now.”
After one week spent outside of the Adelaide matchday squad, Jovanovic returned to Veart’s bench for Monday’s clash with the Bulls and provided the perfect response to being dropped in Round 10, scoring a 92nd-minute winner in Adelaide’s come-from-behind 2-1 triumph over the Bulls – a result that sent his side into second spot on the Isuzu UTE A-League table.
“Look at the reaction on the bench,” said Network 10 commentator Simon Hill as Veart, his staff and substitutes leapt to their feet to celebrate Jovanovic’s late winner.
“Luka Jovanovic, who was left out of the squad last week for disciplinary reasons. Carl Veart said he learned his lesson, and that will mean the world to him and Adelaide United.”
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Post-game, Veart was asked about Jovanovic’s impact off the bench and the response he saw from the teenage forward following his absence from the defeat to Western Sydney.
“It’s excellent,” Veart said.
“It shows to not just Luka but all our young boys (that) they’re going to make mistakes, and it’s important they learn from them and just keep working hard – because when you work hard, you get results.
“When Luka came on tonight he worked hard, he was chasing and putting them under pressure. (Luka) and Ryan (White) made that turnover to get us that free-kick for the second goal.
“I’m very pleased for them, and very pleased for the playing group. They put a lot of effort into tonight, because we know this is a very difficult place to come, especially for us, we’ve had some very poor results here. So I’m very happy.”
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“We said to the boys tonight’s game is going to be won with our mentality,” Veart added.
“We pushed and pushed and we didn’t give up, even when we went behind we kept going. That’s a tick of approval for the playing group.”
Jovanovic’s 92nd-minute winner sent Adelaide up to second on the Isuzu UTE A-League table, ahead of a weekend matchup against Wellington Phoenix on Saturday, January 11.
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