Kosmina blames fatigue for stalemate

Adelaide United coach John Kosmina believes fatigue may have played a part in Saturday’s 0-0 draw with the Newcastle Jets.

Following on from a hectic festive season A-League schedule the Reds have trained in extreme heat in Adelaide in the past week.

After starting brightly against the Jets, Adelaide tired noticeably in the tightly contested fixture but did enough to hang on for a gritty draw.

“There are a lot of things to be considered,” Kosmina said after the match.

“We have had a pretty hard run and the weather in Adelaide hasn’t helped – you can’t train!

“And there is no indoor facility with an AC and full-size astro turf pitch, you just get out in the sun and deal with it.

“We dominated early but it was about the 30th minute it seemed like the curtain came down.

“It could have been (fatigue) – it could have been a couple of incidents in the game – things just weren’t falling for us, but you just have to persevere.

“They (the Adelaide players) will always have a crack at it – that is a good thing. We are resilient.”

Despite just holding on for a share of the points Kosmina believes his side could have won had they taken advantage of some clear-cut chances in the opening half hour.

“Did we get away with it or did we give away two (points)?” Kosmina questioned.

“We made two really good chances in the first half, and had a long period where we dominated the first half. We maybe did enough to earn two goals and then go on with it.

“We switched off a little bit and allowed Newcastle back into it and they did pretty well.

“In the second half we were all over the shop and we turned the ball over too easily.”

Kosmina said he was proud of the way his side continued to fight for a share of the points after being over-run by the Jets.

“Newcastle had a good opportunity in the second half through Adam Taggart and Eugene (Galekovic) made a good save with his feet, but we still had that little bit of desperation and urgency when we defended,” he said.

“They were putting us under pressure and we responded.

“We are back at home next week against Perth – that won’t be an easy game either. We have an extra day to recover for next week and hopefully that will help us out.”