Adelaide United skipper Ryan Kitto issued a rallying cry as the slumping Reds fight to qualify for the Isuzu UTE A-League Finals Series in the midst of “outside noise”.
Carl Veart’s Adelaide are clinging onto their spot in the top six, with their six-game winless run leaving the team just three points clear of seventh-placed Sydney FC heading into Saturday night’s blockbuster at Coopers Stadium.
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Pressure is building on the Reds, who started the season without defeat in their first eight matches. There has also been speculation regarding Veart’s future as head coach beyond 2024-25, according to Network 10.
“There is a little bit of outside noise and a few distractions at the moment, but our full focus is on the training ground and on the games ahead,” Kitto told Adelaide media.
“We’ve had meetings as a group. We’ve set goals. We know where we want to be and what we want to achieve, and everyone’s pushing towards that target. We know what it looks like, and now it’s down to the hardest bit — it’s to us actually doing it.
“Training has been really good and really positive, and people are putting a really good shift in. We’ve just got to translate that to game day, get a positive result, and reinforce those behaviours and finish — like I said — just finish off the season where we think we deserve to be.”
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Last week, Adelaide led 3-2 after overturning a 2-1 deficit before losing 5-3 away to Melbourne Victory, who stunned the Reds with goals in the 88th and 90th minutes at AAMI Park.
“It was disappointing to not get that result for the amazing travelling fans on Saturday,” Kitto reflected. “They’ve been fantastic for us this whole season, as they have my whole time here at Adelaide.
“Like I’ve always said, we do have the best fans in the league, and we’re really lucky.
“It’s important that we reward their loyalty, and that they continue to come out and support us — because it does really help us, and it’s going to be really important for this final push.”
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