Adelaide United striker Bruce Djite is confident the Adelaide Oval surface will not be a “concern” come Sunday’s A-League grand final against the Western Sydney Wanderers.
An AFL match between the Adelaide Crows and Fremantle precedes Sunday’s title decider on Saturday afternoon, but Djite believes the pitch should hold up just fine.
“Yeah it’s actually not too bad, the centre circle is a bit rough, but look I don’t’ think it will be too much of a concern,” Djite said.
“You know it’s the same for both teams as the old cliché goes and look it’s not disturbing us too much, it’s a good pitch and we look forward to playing on it.
“The grass is a bit longer, but the pitch will be different by game day I think with the game tomorrow and then our game on Sunday they’ll probably cut the grass by then.
“It’s in decent shape now as I mentioned early it’ll be a quick pitch, it’ll be very quick … that’s not a bad thing, that’s a good thing that’s not a concern to us.”
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The Reds held a training session at Adelaide Oval on Friday to adapt to the different conditions, while the Wanderers will not be given that opportunity.
Consequently, Djite admitted that will be a real benefit for his teammates as the ground is not conducive to a ball constantly touching the surface.
“That will be an advantage I think,” Djite admitted. “Look we need to take as many advantages as we possibly can, we earned that right by finishing first.
“It is always good to have a familiarisation session on the field that you’re going to have the grand final on.”
Djite also allayed fears there was an injury cloud surrounding the in-form talisman, after failing to train with the main group this week.
“Physically all good, the only reason I did the light stuff this week because that’s what I did before the Melbourne City game,” Djite continued.
“And that game turned out okay, so we thought we’d replicate what I did last week … everything’s perfectly fine I’ve got no issues and I’ll be playing on Sunday touchwood.”
Guillermo Amor and Tony Popovic both have complete squads to choose from, meaning the two sides will be at full strength, with little separating the pair.
On the massive encounter itself, Djite said he is anticipating a tough game against a disciplined Wanderers outfit and revealed where the clash would be won.
“I think the games have been very close [this season] because we are both very good teams and I think we’ll have the same again.”
“It’s going to be who takes their chance when they get it, and who’s more clinical and makes less mistakes is definitely going to win this game.”
More than 50,000 people are expected to fill the seats of the famous stadium, with a sell out a genuine possibility.
It will be the largest crowd ever to witness an A-League game in the city of churches, eclipsing the 33,126 attendance record set against Melbourne Victory in October 2014.
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