Carrusca wary of Wanderers resurgence

Adelaide United is looking to bounce back after losing its first game of the season against Melbourne Victory last Friday, when it takes on Western Sydney Wanderers on tonight at Coopers Stadium.

The Wanderers are sitting at the bottom of the A-League ladder, and despite their miraculous Asian Champions League win, are winless in the league so far this season.

Photo: Pete Nowakowski

United midfield Marcelo Carrusca believes that the Wanderers are still a threat however, and has given his comrades a public warning; don’t take the Asian Champions lightly.

“We know that [the Wanderers] aren’t having a good moment in the league, but they won the [ACL], so we have to be careful,” Carrusca said.

“They have good players… so we have to do our job, play our style of football and try to win.

“We have to try and come back with a clean sheet, and try and win the game,” he said.

Following the Red’s maiden loss for the 2014/15 A-League season last Friday, Carrusca believes that his side can bounce back, citing the way he and his colleagues played after the first 20 minutes as evidence that all is well at Coopers Stadium.

Furthermore, the fact that Melbourne Victory’s opening two goals were placed into the net by United defenders suggests that bad luck had a bit to do with the loss. The midfielder conceded that there is still improvement to come from his side.

“The first 20 minutes [against Melbourne Victory] we didn’t play well, but the after we kicked a goal we played better and created chances,” he said.

“We scored twice, so if we play the same, and are ready from the first minute... we can do well.”

The Reds will take to Coopers Stadium without key defender Osama Malik, who is out for around six weeks with a calf strain he picked up in the grudge match against Victory.

The tall centre-back has formed a key partnership with Nigel Boogaard in front of keeper Eugene Galekovic, and will be replaced by Dylan McGowan, who returns to the starting XI.

Meanwhile, Western Sydney is playing its third game in a week, following a 1-1 draw in the derby clash against Sydney FC, and a 1-0 loss to Brisbane Roar on Wednesday night.

The latter of those results gave the Wanderers the unwanted honour of having the worst start in the league’s history, equal to Melbourne Heart (now City) in 2013/14, and the now defunct New Zealand Knights in 05/06.

Carrusca agreed that the form and workload of the Wanderers is an advantage for his side on Saturday, but stopped short of labelling his team as favourite.

“We have our fans at home and we like to win, and this is what we want to do.”

Adelaide United and Western Sydney Wanderers will face off at Coopers Stadium tonight at 7:00 pm (ACDT).