With the countdown now on for the Wanderers first match at Bankwest Stadium, defender Tarek Elrich is looking forward to putting on a memorable performance for the Red & Black.
With the countdown now on for the Wanderers first match at Bankwest Stadium, defender Tarek Elrich is looking forward to putting on a memorable performance for the Red & Black.
The match will mark the very first football match played at the Wanderers new home with pressure now on for the team to put on a solid first performance.
“There’s a lot of pressure on us playing at such a big club. The fans, players, staff and everyone expects results here,” said Elrich.
“The new stadium marks a new beginning for the club.”
With an expected 7,000 Leeds supporters set to descend on Western Sydney come Saturday 20 July, Elrich believes the English Championship club are the perfect first opponent to host at the new stadium.
“Looking back on our own season, I think Leeds will also be a bit disappointed as well with the way their season finished in the end.
“Leeds have a very rich culture and they are a massive club.
“I didn’t realise how big they were until I walked in the streets of Sydney and I saw people in jerseys loving them.
“Obviously our boys, Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka, Jacob Burns and a lot of Aussies really loved them.
“But for us to have a club with such a rich history to come out to play against us, from what I hear in an expected sold-out stadium, is something I will never forget and hopefully we will work as hard as we can ahead of the game.”
A fresh-faced Wanderers squad is expected to take on Leeds United with new signings Daniel Lopar, Dylan McGowan, Daniel Georgievski, Pirmin Schwegler and Radoslaw Majewski leading the new guard of Red & Black.
“Look, we’ll definitely turn up to training to plenty of new faces but it’s a good thing for the club.
“But for us as well, we have 30 days to go and it’s going to be massive for us. Pre-season officially starts for us today.”
