Adelaide United captain Jon McKain believes his side have a lot to look forward to despite a stuttering start to their Hyundai A-League season.
Adelaide United captain Jon McKain believes his side have a lot to look forward to despite a stuttering start to their Hyundai A-League season.
The Reds find themselves in ninth place with only two wins this season ahead of what is expected to be a tense clash with rivals Melbourne Victory on Saturday night at Etihad Stadium.
After high pre-season expectations, the Reds’ faltering start has seen the side come under heavy criticism from fans and media alike.
McKain said there was no point dwelling on past results suggesting a win against the Victory in what he described as a “special game” would be the perfect opportunity for the Reds to rebuild their season.
“It’s been frustrating for us, everyone knows it hasn-t been a great start and it’s been well-documented … but we are not going to gain anything by dwelling on what’s been,” McKain said.
“It’s the start of the season still and we know we can turn our fortunes around, it’s that simple.”
“We’ve still got a lot to look forward to and there’s a long way to go in this season.”
“We are going into (Melbourne) Victory this week confident. We’ve had a good week on the park with Rini (Coolen) and the boys coming back from injury have freshened things up a bit … that’s been crucial.”
“It’s a special game for the team, the fans and the town too and we know what three points will mean to us.”
“Hopefully the next few weeks we can build a bit of a platform and what better way to start then with our rivals Melbourne Victory.”
With the Reds in a slump and without a win in almost a month the scrutiny has intensified on the club.
Coach Rini Coolen has bore the brunt of it although the players have received their fair share, including McKain who has copped flak for his leadership in his first season as captain.
The 29-year-old also denied reports that the team was not gelling off the pitch due to the disjointed displays on it.
“There has been so much negativity and negative comments about how we’ve played, and rightfully so we haven-t done well,” McKain said.
“But I haven-t focused on it too much this week.”
“I know when you do badly that there a lot of knives thrown and people are looking for you … that’s just the nature of the game.”
“There are no issues off the field, we just need to gel on the field and like anything win a few games and the confidence will come.”
“Every week we keep saying it, that we are losing time but we got to start putting runs on the board now.”
The former Wellington Phoenix defender said it hadn-t helped the Reds but was confident personally and with the quality of the playing group that it would not affect the team as they look to bounce back this Saturday night.
“We’ve got good enough players, and for me personally, I know we are good enough to get out of the slump we are in at the moment,” McKain said.
“Reading that criticism doesn-t really help, but you take it on board and use it in a positive way.”
