Adelaide United keen to reward outgoing coach Carl Veart with an A-League championship
Adelaide United players are intent on winning the A-League title for departing Reds coach Carl Veart.
Having profited from Sydney FC's poor finish to the regular season to sneak into the top six, the Reds have a new hunger to defy the odds by staging a memorable finals run, starting with Friday night's elimination affair with Western United at Ironbark Fields.
Adding to their motivation is the impending departure of Veart, who was told last month by club officials that his contract would not be renewed for next season.
Despite his disappointment, Veart has remained committed to Adelaide's cause, with his selfless and team-first attitude having been appreciated by his players.
'The boys are disappointed (about Veart's exit) because Carl's been there for so long and he's got all of the players' respect because he's a top guy,' Reds defender Panagiotis Kikianis said.
'He's still pushing us and still giving us all the right information. He always wants to win and it drives us even harder knowing we have a coach who really wants to win.
'Especially in his last season, we want to do this extra for him.'
Veart urged his players to win the title for themselves.
'My focus is always doing what's best for the club, and that won't change,' the former Socceroos striker said.
'The players have their own motivations too, and they know what's at stake.
'I don't think I've got anything to prove. I've always just tried to do my best for the club.
'We've had good seasons, we've played finals regularly, and now we want to go out and hopefully win some silverware this year.'
To achieve that, the Reds will almost certainly need to improve defensively after conceding 55 goals in 26 regular season games.
Only wooden spooners Perth Glory (56) conceded more.
'You can't hide from it,' Kikianis said.
'I don't take it personally. We know what we need to get getter at.
'There are moments when it's individual things but also, you defend with 11 and attack with 11. The back four gets a lot of the blame, which is fine but people should also understand that there are 11 players on the pitch.
'We're an attacking side, we want to score goals, and the A-League is very transitional, so sometimes you'll get caught but most of the times we score more than our opponent.'
While scoring hasn't been a problem for Adelaide this season, the Reds will need to win on Friday night without the services of the A-League's joint Golden Boot winner Archie Goodwin, who is sidelined with a hamstring injury
His place in attack will go to Australian under-20 representative Luka Jovanovic.
'Luka works extremely hard. He's a very good striker, one of the best finishers I've seen,' Kikianis said.
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