Josh Cavallo could celebrate Saturday night’s Pride Game at Coopers Stadium with his first start for Adelaide United in more than two months.
Cavallo, the only current active male player in a top level league to have come out as gay and a key factor in Adelaide staging the A-League’s first Pride Game, hasn’t started for the Reds since the club’s 1-0 loss to Western United.
However, the versatile Cavallo could be recalled to the Reds’ starting team for the clash against the Central Coast Mariners, with Adelaide coach Carl Veart promising a selection shake-up after his side’s disappointing 4-1 loss to Macarthur FC last Saturday at Campbelltown Stadium.
“Most definitely,” Veart replied when asked if Cavallo was a chance to start.
“Last week was am unacceptable performance from the team so there will be changes (on Saturday night).”
Veart said Cavallo was unfortunate to have tested positive to Covid-19 earlier this season, and had “worked extremely hard to get back in”.
“Every time we’ve called on him to come on (from the bench) he’s done an exceptional job,” the Reds coach said.
“There’s always an extra spring in Josh’s step, It’s just the wxjmtzyway he plays. He’s a very energetic player and provides a lot of energy.
“He’s very proud that the club and our supporters have got behind him, and it’s a great occasion (on Saturday) night.”
However, Reds star Craig Goodwin said while it would be a “fantastic occasion”, Adelaide’s priority was to win.
“It’s still a game and it’s a massive one for our season, and we need the three points,” the Socceroos winger said.
"We were disappointed overall with the performance against Macarthur. We did start well, but we’ve done the video session and we’ve seen where we’ve went wrong and we know what we have to do to rectify it.
“Part of that is just effort and the other part is sticking to our structures and tactics, and then expressing ourselves from there.”
An Adelaide win over the Mariners would also be a perfect farewell gift for captain Stefan Mauk, who will play his last match for the Reds this weekend before leaving to join Japanese second division club Fagiano Okayama.
Veart said Mauk had led the Reds “fantastically”.
“It would be great for team to send him out a winner,” the Adelaide coach said.
The Mariners are backing up after a controversial 3-2 midweek loss to Melbourne City at AAMI Park.
Mariners coach Nick Montgomery said: “The boys are resilient … it gives us more motivation to go to Adelaide and get a positive result.”
