Back at home after two trips to Sydney, one game and one point, and Canberra United is looking forward to being back in front of their loyal Viking Park crowd.
The quick turnaround gives Canberra no down time though, with the group focusing concurrently on recovery and their next opponents; the Lady Reds.
This is the second time the teams have met this season, their Round 2 match saw Adrian Stenta’s side score a last-minute winner, leaving Canberra ruing the day they let the three points slip from their grasp.
Since that match, Canberra has steadily been building with three goals and two draws. In Wednesday’s 0-0 draw against Perth Glory, a stellar effort from Keeley Richards saw the goalkeeper earn her first clean sheet for the season.
“She [Keeley] kept us in it, she kept a clean sheet and even taking the corner and crosses,” Head Coach Vicki Linton said of her goalkeeper.
“She kept us in that game.”
While at the other end of the park, we saw more of the exciting link up between Michelle Heyman and Allira Toby, while the experience of Ash Sykes was immediately felt when she stepped onto the field in the 61st minute.
“We’re starting to see that partnership between Michelle and Allira and that’s exciting, and I look forward to seeing more of that,” she said.
“And then you add Ash Sykes into the mix and that’s pretty critical for us as well. They’re intelligent players so it hasn’t taken long for them to work each other out and to work off each other really well.”
The side will also be buoyed by the return of defender Emma Ilijoski, who was forced to miss Wednesday’s match after a Rapid Antigen Test returned a false positive, before a PCR test confirmed she was negative.
But with more time to rest and full of confidence from their 4-2 over Perth, going up against Adelaide will certainly be no easy feat.
“Adelaide is coming into this game fresh, and obviously a really good win so it’s going to be a very challenging match,” Linton said.
Canberra is ready to tip the scales and start winning games and there’s no better environment to do it in, than at Viking Park on Saturday.
Ticket to the game can be found, here.
MATCH DETAILS |
Canberra United v Adelaide United
Saturday, 8 January
5.05pm AEDT
Viking Park
