Adelaide United coach Aurelio Vidmar says form lines will be thrown out the window when the Reds tackle Melbourne Victory at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday night.
Both United and the Victory have made modest starts to the season but Vidmar expects both teams to gain momentum in the coming weeks.
“They (Melbourne) are going through a bit of a rough patch, we’ve been up and down as well so I wouldn’t read too much into what has happened in the last seven or eight results,” he said.
“They are still a very good football side, the first couple of rounds, even though they didn’t get the results, they played some pretty good stuff, they just didn’t get the results.”
“We are not going to try anything different we just need to be playing at our very, very best to get a result.”
Melbourne’s chances of victory will be boosted if Kevin Muscat takes to the field after a lay-off with a hamstring injury.
Vidmar said Muscat had the ability to change a game with his no-nonsense approach and leadership but added the Reds would be concentrating on their own game.
“With Muscat or without Muscat we just want three points. They certainly miss him because he is such a great leader,” he said.
“There’s a few of those types and characters in the league that can actually lift a team and he’s certainly one of those.”
“(But) It would be a mistake to put all your energies into one player. If you start focusing on one player they’ve got that many other players that can do some damage.”
“He’ll be one of the 11 on the pitch, if he plays, and we’ve just got to deal with him accordingly.”
Meanwhile, defender Scott Jamieson says the pressure is on Melbourne Victory to win the clash at Hindmarsh Stadium despite the Reds losing the past six encounters between these sides.
Jamieson, who hasn’t tasted success against Ernie Merrick’s boys, says winning runs always come to an end and United was determined to make that happen in Round 7.
“Sooner rather than later we are going to beat them and I think the stick the Melbourne players gave it to them (the fans) last year in the semi-final I think there would be no better way than for us to win and give it back to them,” he said.
“They’ll be feeling the pressure a little bit if I’m honest, just the fact that they’ve pretty much beat us in the last six or so games. They need a win but it’s important we play our own game and get a result.”
