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Adelaide United captain Travis Dodd is convinced the speed and creativity of his team?s attack will prove too much for Wellington Phoenix on Friday night.
A-League Award Season
Vote for your A-League player of the season! A-League Finals: Week OneFriday, February 18
Elimination final:
Adelaide United v Wellington Phoenix, Hindmarsh Stadium, 8pm (EDT).
Saturday, February 19
Major semi-final, leg one:
Central Coast Mariners v Brisbane Roar, Bluetongue Stadium, 7pm (EDT)
Sunday, February 20
Elimination final:
Gold Coast United v Melbourne Victory, Skilled Park, 5.30pm (EDT)
(Elimination final winners meet in minor semi-final during week two. Losers are eliminated.)
The final will be the second time in two weeks the teams have met at Hindmarsh Stadium, after Wellington scored a 1-0 win on February 5.
If Adelaide win they will also host the elimination final, perhaps against arch-rivals Melbourne Victory, in the second week of the finals series.
Catch all the A-League finals action Live and Exclusive on Fox Sports!
But before they start looking beyond Wellington, Adelaide will have to consider Phoenix’s considerable attacking arsenal. Striker Paul Ifill will make his return from a serious ankle injury and he will join the in-form Dylan Macallister and Chris Greenacre in a formidable frontline.
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Dodd, however, has an eye on two less-familiar names - Marco Rojas and Tim Brown.
"They are a good side, there’s no doubt about it," said Dodd.
"They have some threatening players. Marco Rajos has been in great form over the last few weeks and he’s certainly going into this game with a lot of form.
"Tim Brown always makes runs from deep in the midfield, pops up in the box and scores a lot of goals. You can’t single out two players, though, they are a good rounded squad and we need to worry about playing good football."
Although they will have to overcome the tumult of Paul Reid's walkout on Thursday, Adelaide’s recent success in front of goal has Dodd confident they can secure the club’s first A-League championship.
"Set pieces are certainly something we’ve been working on since the start of the year, and we have scored quite a few goals from them. They are working for us," said Dodd.
And the captain himself is finding some neat touch in front of goal.
"Scoring the goal off a header (the winning goal against Melbourne Victory) - that’s a rare one, I guess, for me. But it was good personally to keep that confidence going into the finals."
After a stream of disappointing results in the middle of the season, Adelaide regrouped and are now playing composed and creative football.
"The players up the pitch are confident that the guys at the back can do the job and keep a clean sheet," said Dodd.
"And the defenders are confident in the attack, that we can get the ball and create opportunities. I don’t think that’s been a problem for us all year, we’ve made plenty of opportunities.
"Sure we’ve had games where we haven’t had the best finishing, but we’ve got players like Sergio (van Dijk) who’s scored 16 goals for the year, and Mathew Leckie has pace to burn. So we’re definitely a strong attacking team.
"Everything counts, every little thing counts in the finals, and hopefully it all works out to our advantage."
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