Marco Kurz praised Adelaide United’s ‘brilliant’ defence but admitted he is suffering from lack of forward options after a 0-0 stalemate draw against Melbourne City.
The Reds lost January recruit Jordy Thomassen in the 35th minute at AAMI Park when the loanee from Dutch club De Graafschap landed awkwardly on his ankle. His replacement Nikola Mileusnic is still rebuilding match fitness after a long injury layoff following ankle ligament damage.
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The rock bottom Central Coast Mariners are the only Hyundai A-League team who have scored fewer goals than the South Australian outfit this season.
Young gun Apostolos Stamatelopoulos struck twice before receiving a red card in last week’s 3-1 victory against Wellington Phoenix, and Kurz admitted his frustration with his misfiring attack.
“Thomassen landed on his ankle. We must wait for the appointment with the doctor,” Kurz explained.
“At the moment we do not have many strikers. When we have a good one [Stamatelopoulos], his decision is to ask for a red card.
“The good thing is if he learns about this situation it’s very helpful. He’s a young boy. He has to learn because now he is out for the next game as well.
“I must be careful, Mileusnic came back after a long injury and he looks not really fresh.
“I think we played a very good first half, the only issue was that we didn’t score goals.
“If we score one or two goals, it makes it easier in the second half.
“They created a couple of chances but our defending was brilliant.”
Melbourne City head coach Warren Joyce praised goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic for keeping Kurz’s charges at bay.
“You have got to give them credit,” said Joyce.
“They’ve got a really good coach, they are a really well organised team. The first half I thought they pressed us well.
“We didn’t create as many thing as we would like to and at times Eugene [Galekovic] has pulled off a couple of really top saves.”
