New Adelaide United defender Bart Vriends not selected for Australia Cup battle

Adelaide United will take no chances with the fitness of a key off-season recruit in an Australia Cup match being played on artificial turf.

Bart Vriends’ Adelaide United competitive debut has been put on hold, with Reds coach Carl Veart unwilling to risk his prized Dutch recruit on an artificial playing surface in Wednesday night’s Australia Cup round-of-32 battle with NPL NSW club Blacktown City.

Vriends joined the Reds last month following a decorated career in the Netherlands that included lengthy stints with Sparta Rotterdam and Go Ahead Eagles.

The 33-year-old centre-back will be crucial to Adelaide’s 2024-25 A-League hopes, with the Reds’ defence having been a major weakness last season.

As a result, Veart won’t risk Vriends on the artificial turf at Landen Stadium, the home of Blacktown.

“Bart won’t be travelling with us for this game,” Veart said on Tuesday.

“With the pitch that we’re going to play on, it’s important that we look after some of our players.”

Eerste dag 🙌

Excited to have our new Technical Director, Ernest Faber, arrive in Adelaide. pic.twitter.com/oqyA8Jtw31

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To prepare for the different surface, the Reds played on artificial turf at AA Bailey Reserve against State League One club Cumberland United last week.

“It is different with the bounce and the speed of the ball, but my understanding is that Cumberland’s artificial pitch is quite a new one, and the Blacktown pitch is a little bit older, so they’re a little bit different,” Veart said.

“It will take a little while for the players to get used to the bounce but after 10-15 minutes they should be fine.

“It’s going to be a good test for us to see where we’re at, and it’s something that the boys are really looking forward to.

“We’re going in a little but underdone but we’re very confident that with the work that we’ve done so far in the pre-season, it should be enough fitness-wise to get through a game.

“We know that if we play to our level, we should get the job done.”

In Wednesday night’s other Australia Cup round-of-32 matches, Western Sydney Wanderers visit Imperial Corp Stadium to meet NPL Queensland club Brisbane City, NPL NSW leaders Rockdale City host the Newcastle Jets, and Perth RedStar meet Queensland Lions in an all-NPL battle at the Sam Kerr Football Centre.

Originally published as New Adelaide United defender Bart Vriends not selected for Australia Cup battle