Adelaide United take heart from Melbourne resurgence

Adelaide United coach John Kosmina is looking to follow the lead of the Melbourne Heart as he tries to reinvigorate the Reds’ Hyundai A-League season.

After a stuttering start to the season the Heart have impressed in recent weeks, climbing to second spot on the ladder and Kosmina hopes to emulate the club’s change in fortunes.

“You look at Melbourne Heart... they struggled early on but they stuck to their guns and now the ball’s started to fall for them and they got a fantastic result last night and we’ve got to do the same thing,” Kosmina said.

“The teams are all a game or two apart and if you can show some consistency in terms of your application... you start to get some results.”

Adelaide has now moved off the bottom of the ladder after an impressive 2-0 win over the Phoenix at Hindmarsh Stadium.

Kosmina was pleased with the result and warned the competition of the threat his team can pose with the attacking players at his disposal.

“We got a clean sheet, we got a decent crowd and the football was good,” Kosmina said.

“The resolve of the players was good as well because Wellington are a good side and they put us under a bit of pressure.

“I think if we can keep that combination with Dario, Serg [van Dijk] and Bruce [Djite] it’s going to work pretty well and it’s going to put teams under a lot of pressure because when he’s on the ball he’s fantastic, he can go past people.”

Adelaide has endured a tumultuous fortnight after the reinstatement of Kosmina and the sacking of Jon McKain as captain, but playmaker Dario Vidosic believes when it’s time to play, the Reds will do their job.

“Once you cross that white line and the ref blows the whistle you forget about all that and you just want to play football,” Vidosic said.

Adelaide take on the Heart in Melbourne on Wednesday before returning to Hindmarsh to face the out-of-form Brisbane Roar on Saturday night.