Friday night’s tantalising fixture between Adelaide United and Melbourne City is just another match for former City midfielder and now Red Stefan Mauk.
The 20-year-old moved back to his hometown midway through the season as part of a swap deal between the two sides, with Osama Malik heading in the opposite direction.
Since returning to Adelaide, young Socceroo Mauk has continued to build on the strong early-season form he displayed at City, scoring twice to bring his season tally to six in four starts with the South Australians, as they continue to maraud past all else in the A-League, sitting pretty atop the table.
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Ahead of the reunion with his ex-teammates, Mauk says he feels no added pressure to perform and struggles to see any side breaking United’s hot streak.
“Every game you want to win … I think it’s just like a normal game for me,” he said.
“Maybe a bit before the game, when I see the players warming up and everything, I’ll say ‘hi’. It might be a bit strange, but once the game starts it’s just like playing any other team.
“It (Adelaide) is a very welcoming club. From day one to now, I’ve felt very important. All the boys, the coaching staff, the background staff, have been very good to me, and the team’s winning. So when the team’s winning, players play well … everybody’s confident, so when you go out on the field, you know that every player will be playing well.
“I don’t why it was like that (Adelaide struggling) at the start of the year because it’s a very confident group, the way that the club feels is very good, everyone’s together, the unity, every player wants to play for each other, and I don’t see teams being able to break that.
“That’s the most important thing. I don’t see too many teams being able to stop us as long as we keep the momentum going.
As for the banter with his former sparring partners, Mauk says text messages have been sent between he and his old mates, with more words expected to be said on-field. Yet he joked that he will simply let his feet do the talking.
“They’ve been sending me a few texts throughout the week, maybe a little bit on the field, but let the football to the talking.
“I’ll give it back a little bit, but make sure the cameras don’t see.”
Adelaide are at the summit of the table on 39 points, four ahead of fourth-placed City.
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