After a 2-2 draw with Western United on Saturday afternoon, Ufuk Talay has praised those boys coming into the side.
With his team being ravaged by injuries this season, the Head Coach has been forced to reshuffle his pack and he did so on Saturday with Fabio Gomes starting in place of Pat Wood and the Brazilian found the net, much to the delight of his boss.
“The great thing is that we have competition for places and players have to be able to earn their spot in the team and I thought Fabio did a good job today.
“Every player is in the same boat. If they work hard during the week then they get the opportunity to wear the jersey on the weekend,” Talay said.
Talay made two half time changes and raised that one was prevention and the other was tactical.
“Gabby [Lacerda] felt his groin so we didn’t take any chances with that as we have a big list of injured players at the moment so we will find out where he is at after a scan.
“We took Max [Burgess] off because I wanted more pressure on the ball and he was good with the ball but on the other side of the game, my expectation is that we press and press as a unit together,” he added.
Finally, Talay enjoyed the experience of playing in Hobart but wished it was a rectangular stadium rather than a circular oval.
“It was a great turn-out today but it would’ve been nice if they were close to the ground and would’ve made the atmosphere a little better at times.
“Overall, a great opportunity for people in Hobart and Tasmania to come out and see some football.
“I’m not part of the APL decisions on who puts a team where but I think it would be great if Tassie had a team here,” Talay concluded.
Ufuk Talay’s side will travel to face the Mariners on Saturday night as they look to close the gap to the top of the table.