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Give NZ Knights a fair go [Thu Aug 25th, 2005]
The New Zealand Knights want football critics to wait until six weeks into the inaugural A-League competition before passing judgment on their credentials.
The Knights begin their campaign away to the Queensland Roar, who beat them 5-0 in the pre-season A-League Cup late last month.
They lost all three of their cup fixtures, and were unconvincing in downing the Solomon Islands in a training match in Auckland despite the 4-0 scoreline.
But manager John Adshead remained convinced that he had the makings of a "damn good football team".
With the eight clubs in the new league playing 21 rounds before the semi finals, Adshead asked fans and the media not to be too hasty to judge the Knights.
"You will genuinely have the right to assess us after six weeks," he said. "If we are not beginning to show you things after that period of time, then there are going to be a lot of other questions asked."
Adshead said the Knights were looking to get the balance right between being a side that was hard to beat, and one that went out to win matches.
He indicated that the focus for the opening fixture against the Roar in Brisbane would be on hard work rather than fancy football.
"Sunday is going to be about commitment, attitude, work rate," he said. "It's going to be about grafting to get something."
Skipper Danny Hay said the Knights would be looking for a bit of payback for their loss to the Roar.
"After playing them in the pre-season tournament and them giving us a hiding, we owe them one," he said. "I think the boys have got a little bit of steel about us and really look forward to giving them one back."
Hay said the Knights had gone into that earlier match not knowing much about the Roar.
They learnt that their opponents were sharp through the midfield, liked to play plenty of one-twos and had pace up front.
"We all have to be on our toes and our concentration levels have to be more than 100 percent," he said. "If we go about keeping the ball ourselves and start playing the game we know we're capable of, I'm sure we can put them under a little bit of pressure."
Hay said the Knights might be a little underdone, with injuries and suspension hitting their buildup. There was also the issue of getting a squad to gel that contained several different nationalities.
"Possibly we're a week or two shy of where we want to be," Hay said. "But having said that, there are no excuses now. The league starts on Sunday and we have to look forward to that."
NZPA
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