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Adelaide United’s aim of remaining the A-League’s sole unbeaten side has been boosted by the availability of young gun Matthew Leckie for Friday’s night fixture against Perth Glory.
Reds coach Rini Coolen had planned to be without Leckie for the Hindmarsh Stadium match as the 19-year-old was at an Australian under-19 camp.
But Leckie has been granted leave from the camp preparing for the under-19 championships in China starting on October 3.
Leckie, who has scored four goals in Adelaide’s unbeaten start to the season, will play against the Glory and then rejoin his national teammates the next day.
“I’m real happy,” Coolen said on Thursday.
“Leckie is an important player for us but at the start of the week we thought we couldn’t play with him.
“But something changed in the last couple of days … so he can play.”
The Reds will be without suspended left back Cassio for their home game against third-placed Perth, with an on-field reshuffle paving the way for former Chelsea midfielder Joe Keenan to make his starting debut for Adelaide.
“He’s an experienced player, he can play positions in the midfield and even as a left back,” Coolen said of short-term signing Keenan.
The beginning of Dutchman Coolen’s tenure as Adelaide coach has been spectacular, winning four and drawing three of seven games.
The top of the table position was unheralded, given Adelaide finished bottom last season and started the new season with a host of injuries to key players, including captain Travis Dodd, who in the past week has resumed competitive training after having groin surgery.
Central midfielder Paul Reid said there was no reason for the Reds’ bubble to burst.
“When you are confident it’s always nice, but you don’t become over-confident,” Reid said on Thursday.
“We definitely have been working even harder at training to keep the run going.
“The way we look at it, it (Friday night) is a massive opportunity for us … if we win, we move to 18 points and have got a decent gap between a lot of the teams.
“It’s always nice to be on a good run but people are going to be saying that we are going to lose a game eventually, but we don’t think like that.
“We think, at this stage of the season, we can beat any team and that is the way we are going into games.”
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