Melbourne City defensive pair Patrick Kisnorbo and Alex Wilkinson say getting back on the winners’ list this Friday night against Adelaide is the side’s main focus.
City come into the contest winning four of its last five matches in the Hyundai A-League and with an impressive home record at AAMI Park, City will look to put last week’s result in Perth behind them with the chance to secure a home final on the cards.
“We had it in our hands obviously but it wasn’t to be, but now we reassess, refocus and go again,” Wilkinson said.
“It’s about how we perform and how we play. If we play our game and do the things right, we’ll win. We’re confident going into the finals that if we do everything right on our side of things and play the way we want to play, we can beat everyone.
“That’s starting Friday, we have to get back to the things we are good at and performing well. Our home record recently has been good so if we can get a huge crowd, which is the last game of the regular season, it would be great for them to be there to help cheer us on.”
The Premier’s Plate is not out of reach for City however, with a win against Adelaide keeping the possibilities open but captain Kisnorbo felt it is important to focus his side’s energy on Friday night’s contest above all else.
“We’ve came back from Perth disappointed but we trained well today, knowing the importance of Friday’s game, because we know it’s going to be a very big game for both teams,” Kisnorbo said.
“If we start worrying about possibilities and all other factors, that’s where you have problems. I think the main thing is that we worry about what we need to do for Friday’s game and how we go about that.
“We know that come Friday, it’s a massive game and we can’t have any hiccups like last week.”
Adelaide have the best defensive and away record in the A-League this season and their form after the New Year has seen them skyrocket into the top positions, but City will take away confidence from their last encounter where Nick Fitzgerald’s strike separated the sides in a dominant display by John van’t Schip’s men.
“They’re obviously tough to break down but in the last game in Adelaide, we created quite a few chances and obviously put one away so we can take a lot of confidence out of that,” Wilkinson said.
“They are also pretty strong going forward as well and they like to play possession-based football and get the ball out wide, plus Bruce Djite has worked himself into some scoring form over the past 10 games.
“It’s about us and how we do things. We‘ll analyse the opponents and look at their strengths but ultimately, it comes down to how we want to play and how we want to do things. If we do everything on Friday night, we’ll be fine.
