Adelaide United speedster Matthew Leckie is confident the goals will come for the Reds and he will get on the score sheet.
United have only scored once in their opening two fixtures and it came from central defender Iain Fyfe and from a set piece.
The Reds attacking options appear stretched for Friday night’s clash against Melbourne Heart with Sergio van Dijk in doubt, as Leckie admitted chances for the Young Socceroo have been few and far between.
“Over the last two games I haven’t had many chances to be honest. I’m sure they’ll come. We’re also working on attacking more and hopefully in the next couple of games I can start scoring,” he said.
The 19-year-old burst onto the Hyundai A-League scene last season, scoring in his second game for United against North Queensland Fury.
His explosive pace earned him a call-up to the train-on Socceroos squad for an Asian Cup qualifier match against Indonesia, although he didn’t play, as well as many appearances for the Young Socceroos including the Asean Football Federation Under 19 Championships held in Vietnam last month.
Leckie admitted his first two games this season have been more difficult, saying his opponents have worked out his style of play and hold off and wait for the speedster to make his move.
“I think everyone knows what I’m capable of now,” he said.
“I like to run at players, that’s my game. So I think they’ve sort of put into their minds that they’ve to wait for me to make a move instead of diving in.”
“I think they hold off and wait for me to make the move so they can tackle, and I think being a fast and strong player they’ve been coming in strong against me.”
Leckie has been on the receiving end of some crunching tackles in the opening two fixtures but remains unperturbed despite receiving extra attention.
“It’s part of football. It’s a strong game, especially in the Australia,” he said.
“The A-league is all about being strong on the ball and stuff like that. I see as it as just a tackle, obviously if it’s a bad tackle I’ll have a word to the ref, but other than that you move on and keep playing.”
The fleet-footed winger acknowledged head coach Rini Coolen has virtually given him a license to torment opposition defences.
Leckie said Coolen has laid down a few ground rules and guidelines but said his coach has full confidence in his talent and wants the young star to express himself fully.
“He’s guided me through how he wants me to play, he’s give me a bit of a guideline,” he said.
“But, overall he said we know your capabilities, so you know what you’ve got to do on the pitch. (He said) I’ll give you a guide of the way we’re playing and the formation we’re going to play, but he said just be the player you are.”
“(He said) you’re the kind of player that is different to anyone else. You just do things of your own thoughts. There’s a guideline of where we want you to play, but just be yourself.”
