Adelaide United’s defence – never the quickest – will be tested sorely on the break when the Reds face Chinese side Shandong Luneng in the Asian Champions League on Wednesday night.

Shandong possess a reputation for organisation and a European-style knack for goals on the counter, and in this home fixture will be backed by a crowd of up to 30,000 vocal spectators.

The Reds have experienced the cauldron before, having battled out an entertaining 2-2 draw against Shandong during the 2007 ACL, and coach Aurelio Vidmar said the team were readying themselves for slow, tactical passages interspersed with swift counter-attacks.

“They defend well in numbers and they break well,” Vidmar said.

“The holding midfielders are the ones who want to get on the ball and they’re the ones who really dictate the play, then the players they have up front have a great ability to beat people one on one, and they love shooting.

“They’re a dangerous squad, there are seven or eight internationals either at this point or have been over the last few years so a very, very strong team.”

Vidmar said the crowd would play a role, and encouraged his men to keep their cool.

“We expect a crowd of 20 to 30,000 and I’d expect them to be like any other crowd when you’re away,” he said.

“You’ll be under pressure, they’ll put as much pressure on you to force mistakes and make mistakes and obviously when they’re going forward and making chances they’ll have the backing of a very vocal crowd, so that’s all part and parcel of playing away.”

Having performed with considerable aplomb against the Pohang Steelers in their ACL opener at home, Vidmar expected to field much the same starting XI, though he credited the rest of the squad for maintaining plenty of pressure for places.

“We’ve got a fair idea of what we’re going to do – to be honest the boys who did very well against Pohang continue to impress,” he said.

“What’s really good about the boys who are out at the moment is they’re really pushing so the competition for places is really hot.”

© AAP 2012

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