Reds ready for Victory ‘challenge’ as they aim to resurrect season

Adelaide United boss Adrian Stenta says his side are expecting a hotly-contested battle with Melbourne Victory as they aim to spark their Liberty A-League campaign into life.

The Reds have failed to pick up a win in their last four outings but are still just two points behind fourth-placed Victory.

A win would be a big boost to Stenta’s hopes of keeping pace in the race for a spot in the top four and making the finals in successive seasons.

Adelaide have struggled to score this campaign, with their goal return of six from their opening nine games only better than that of bottom-placed Wellington Phoenix.

The game will be Victory’s third in the space of a week and Stenta was hoping his side could snap back into form on Saturday.

“It’s going to be a challenge and we expect them to come here and be really up for the fight,” Stenta said.

We need to match their intensity and their effort if we’re going to get something out of the game.

“They are a very experienced side with good players on every level, who are very well coached and organised.

“They are a difficult side to score against.

“So that’s going to provide us with a bit of a challenge but we feel like there’s some areas that we can exploit to gain an advantage.”

The Reds have just one win from four at home this season but Stenta was hopeful he would be able to call upon the services of fringe Matildas defender Jenna McCormick along with midfielder Kate Bowler.

“We’re hoping for a tight contest and hopefully we get a really big crowd out to support us because that really lifts the team,” Stenta said.

“They’re both a chance to feature, they could have been brought back into the side last week as well.

“With the tough run of games and the closeness of the schedule we didn’t want to take that risk.”