Adelaide United will be taking a ‘business-as-usual’ approach into its match against the Melbourne Victory at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night with the Reds keen to break through for a win against their arch rivals.
While United is out of finals contention the hunger to overcome the Victory, who have beaten them eight times in the past two years, is ever present.
Coach Aurelio Vidmar concedes the season is lost but said he won’t be messing around with the team’s structure or game plan.
Instead Adelaide is set to make just two changes to its line-up – Scott Jamieson to replace the suspended Lucas Pantelis while either Alemao, Francesco Monterosso or Robbie Cornthwaite will come in for the injured Cassio.
Vidmar said winning, rather than preparing for the upcoming Asian Champions League, was the priority.
“We still want to put out the strongest possible team and the strongest possible team will give you every opportunity to win the game,” he said.
“We don’t want to finish bottom, there’s not too many games left to give us the opportunity to get off the bottom.”
“It’s been a long time coming against them, they certainly hold the wood over us, but for us it’s a matter of how we’ve prepared mentally rather than physically.”
“Eventually we are going to break the hoodoo.”
Jamieson said he was disappointed to be relegated to the National Youth League after training with the Socceroos earlier this month but was looking forward to returning to the senior side for the clash against Melbourne.
“I hate playing Melbourne because I want to beat them, I haven’t beaten them yet, I’m dying to beat them and I’m very happy my first back is against them,” he said.
“I think it’s probably the best time to play them if I’m honest. There’s no pressure on us, they are coming off a 6-2 win so really they should be the team winning quite easily.”
Jamieson is most comfortable in the left back role but may have a stint in the midfield. The 21-year-old’s eyes lit up when asked whether he’d be a greater chance of scoring if he moved further up the field.
“I haven’t even thought about goals, all I’ve thought about is playing right now,” he said. “I’m quite confident I can maybe score one.”
