Melbourne Heart FC attacker Mate Dugandzic feels his side will be advantaged by Adelaide United’s midweek AFC Champions League encounter ahead of Friday night’s match-up at Hindmarsh Stadium.
Melbourne Heart FC attacker Mate Dugandzic feels his side will be advantaged by Adelaide United-s midweek AFC Champions League encounter ahead of Friday night-s match-up at Hindmarsh Stadium.
Dugandzic said Heart-s added rest will no doubt play into its hands as the side looks to enter the Hyundai A-League Finals Series on a high.
“It will definitely be an advantage,” he said.
“Adelaide will still have three days- rest, and as they are playing at home, they-ll recover and follow their usual program, but having an extra few days definitely helps.”
While Heart is eager to claim its first victory over Adelaide United this season, there is no question the side now has one eye on a debut finals series appearance.
With Heart boasting an impressive record against its fellow title aspirants, the Red and White looms as a potential bogey side when the top six begin to battle for the ultimate prize from next week.
Despite featuring in the Hyundai A-League for the past three seasons, Dugandzic, 22, has made only one finals appearance during his short, but impressive career, and is eager to expand on that total this season.
“I haven-t really been a part of it to be honest. While I was at Victory, I wasn-t in the squad for finals football, except for last year-s game at Gold Coast,” he said.
“The expectations (during finals time) are higher and you obviously want to do as well as you possibly can.
“We know, whether or not we travel to Wellington or Perth, there is going to be a fantastic atmosphere at the stadiums and I-m just really looking forward to the challenge.”
