ADELAIDE United are feeling mounting pressure to win their upcoming home games and fear another setback at Hindmarsh Stadium will see them lose touch with frontrunners.
The once cluttered A-League ladder is starting to develop a pecking order with the inconsistent Reds on the outer in seventh spot with just 16 points from 13 games.
While only two points separate fourth to eighth, United coach Aurelio Vidmar said it was important to keep pressuring the top sides with a victory against Brisbane Roar tonight.
"It's not a desperate situation but certainly a game that we are desperate to win, I think both clubs are in the same position," Vidmar said.
"Sooner or later everyone is going to start breaking away and I think you've already seen that with Melbourne and Sydney, so if we really want to stay in contention for the finals it's certainly a game we need to win."
Adelaide are confident it can topple the shaky Brisbane, having lost just twice to Roar in 13 matches. Vidmar said his players' improved form against Central Coast Mariners was also reason for optimism.
"Our movement last week was so much better," he said. "Getting into the front third hasn't been a problem for us, even last week we got in there on so many occasions but just that lack of quality, that last final pass, that shot on goal is just letting us down.
"Certainly there was a lot of will and a lot of effort and a lot of concentration for the full 90 minutes and I know it's going to come because the quality is certainly there."
While putting high stakes on the Roar clash, Vidmar said a negative result in Round 14 wouldn't mortally wound the team's finals aspirations.
"There's still a fair way to go in the season so there's no need to push the panic button. Certainly no way shape or form are we in panic mode," he said.
Midfielder Adam Hughes was more dramatic in his preview of the game, believing anything but a victory over Brisbane would be a failure.
"At home, yeah I say it is," he said. "Tomorrow night we have to come out and get the three points, that's putting no pressure on anybody.
'In a sense if we are going to stay with Melbourne and Sydney, who have already skipped onto the mid-20s, we have to make sure we win."
Hughes said the players were feeling mounting pressure to win after collecting just five points from their past five games.
"Once you haven't won a couple of matches on the trot in a season, it starts to get to you and the boys know we need a couple on the trot," he said.
"You can tell it's a little bit tense once we walk out onto the pitch, we know we have to win the match and probably putting added pressure that we don't really need.
"We've got to play with no pressure in a sense to pick up the three points because once the pressure comes on us in football, it puts you on the back foot."
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