Adelaide out to beat Steelers

17 April 2012 10:43

Adelaide United captain Eugene Galekovic is determined to seize the moment against the Pohang Steelers on Wednesday night.

Entering the second half of the AFC Champions League group stage, Adelaide share top spot with Pohang in Group E, equal on points and goal difference with the K-League side with three match days remaining.

After suffering their first defeat in five previous meetings to Pohang when they went down 1-0 at the Steelyard in South Korea a fortnight ago, the Reds have their next two matches at home and Galekovic is focused on turning the tables back in United's favour.

"It’s time to make amends tomorrow night, we’ve got a chance to do that and it (the loss in Pohang) is one of those things that you've got to get out of your system straight away and forget about it," Galekovic said on Tuesday.

"It's a massive game for both teams, they’'e obviously on the same points as us and they want to win as much as we do, so whoever wins is going to be that one step closer to qualifying."

"It's our home game and we're after six points from our next two games to qualify and if we can do that we’re through."

Adelaide assistant coach Luciano Trani, like Galekovic, is of the same view.

Trani said the Reds would not go into the game content with playing for a draw, particularly at Hindmarsh Stadium with the support of a parochial home crowd.

"We want to go for the win," Trani said.

"I think it's important if we can get three points now and go to nine with two games left, it really sets us up to possibly look for a draw in the remaining two games."

"A number of series previously have shown that 10 points has been sufficient (to progress) so we’re playing at home and we need to take full advantage of this opportunity."

When the sides met a fortnight ago, Pohang never allowed the Reds to settle as they pressed and pressured any United player on the ball, particularly whenever the Reds looked to get forward.

Notably, on that night the thermometer was a wintry six degrees, but with the mercury expected to reach 30 degrees on Wednesday, Galekovic believes the conditions could stand to favour the Reds this time around in terms of how Pohang approach the contest.

"I think it will play a bit of a factor," Galekovic said of the conditions.

"They (Pohang) are coming from temperatures of around 10 degrees to temperatures of 30 degrees, so it's going to be a big step for them and they might tire a little bit earlier, but in saying that they might play a different way as well."

"They pressed us last time but we're not sure how they're going to play tomorrow so we'll see in the first five minutes."