Adelaide's dutch striker, De Graafschap loanee Jordy Thomassen suffered an ankle injury against City, leaving the Reds' bare bones attacking lineup all the more vulnerable.

“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."

While Kurz and the club have already announced their intention to part ways at the end of the season, with the club's owners expected to launch a renewed focus on youth development, Adelaide are in strong form heading into the finals.

The draw with City follows a convincing win against Wellington Phoenix and while the Reds' goalscoring has been consistently disappointing this season, their defence is playing some of their best football this season.

Not that they can afford any more absences...

“I must be careful, (Nikola) Mileusnic came back after a long injury and he looks not really fresh," Kurz said.

“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.”