Vidmar backing his troops to bounce back

Adelaide United coach Aurelio Vidmar is confident his side can bounce back from their 3-0 loss to Sydney FC in Wednesday’s Asian Champions League quarter-final against Japan’s Kashima Antlers.

Vidmar’s squad has finally returned home after 11 days on the road, having played A-League matches either side of their visit to Japan last Wednesday.

It has been a punishing schedule, exacerbated by energy-sapping 30 degree heat at the Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday.

Despite the one-sided contest in Sydney, Vidmar was pleased with the 1-1 draw in Japan and the players will take a positive mindset into Wednesday despite defeats in their last two A-League outings.

Vidmar adopted an apparent rotation policy for the match against Sydney FC, selecting just three players who started the match in Kashima 72 hours earlier.

Only two outfield players doubled up, Sasa Ognenovski and Paul Reid, with the third being goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic.

“It was always in the back of my mind that we were going to make some changes,” said Vidmar.

“A couple were forced on us and a couple had corks which we didn’t want to risk in case they copped another knock, which would have meant they would have been out for Wednesday.

“It was a hard one to juggle but we gave some opportunities to some players, a lot of whom haven’t had much game time, so it was good for them.

“We set ourselves up pretty well last Wednesday.

“There is still a hell of a lot of work to do because they are a very good side with a lot of quality players around the park so we know that we still have to go out there and put in a hard 90 minutes of work.”

Vidmar will assess niggling injuries over the coming 48 hours, with midfield pair Lucas Pantelis and Fabian Barbiero of the most concern.

Jonas Salley was taken off in the second half against Sydney with an ankle injury but the strapping midfielder is not a member of Adelaide’s nominated Asian Champions League squad.

Former Socceroo Vidmar has already guided his team into unchartered waters for an Australian club, with United being the first A-League side to reach the knockout stage.

A win, or scoreless draw, at Hindmarsh Stadium on Wednesday will see the Reds facing an even lengthier away trip to West Asia next month with the semi-final opponents being either Iranian club Saipa or Kuruvchi of Uzbekistan.

Reigning J-League champions Kashima played a J-League match on Saturday, drawing 1-1 against mid-table Kashiwa Reysol.

Kashima will arrive in Adelaide on Monday morning but, unlike United, the Japanese players will be travelling business class.