Adelaide to treat Perth clash as final – Mullen

Adelaide United defender Daniel Mullen knows the club is lucky to still have a chance of making the A-League finals and will treat tonight’s clash with Perth Glory as a final.

The Reds remained on the bottom of the table after drawing 1-1 with the Central Coast Mariners on Friday night and will face a Glory side in tonight’s Round 19 midweek encounter who will be ready to atone for their heavy 6-2 loss to the Melbourne Victory on Saturday.

Mullen is aware that this could be the Reds’ last chance to keep themselves in the finals race and insist the players will be doing all they can to keep the season alive.

“The mindset is positive at the moment. It’s a game we have to win so it’s probably the biggest game of the season for us,” Mullen said.

“We know we’ve got to go out there, give everything we’ve got and play as though it’s a final.

“I don’t think you’ll see any league in the world where you get so many chances and can still make finals. In that regard we’re very lucky to still be able to make finals, so now we’ve got to ride our luck and hopefully get a few results and anything can happen,” Mullen added.

“I think if we click on the day we can beat any team in the league, especially in this league where anything can happen, so it’s a great opportunity for us to show the fans and the rest of the league that we’re still in it.”

Adelaide are currently on 23 points, four behind Perth who hold sixth position on the table so a win for the Reds is paramount to their chances of qualifying for the 2009/10 play-offs with just four rounds remaining.