Southern squad taking steady approach to quest for third successive final

It is approaching it as a slow burn, although gathering points is still important.

That has proven a successful mindset for Southern United's Futsal Superleague side in the past.

It begins its quest to reach a third final in as many years as the league starts today in Christchurch.

The 2017 champions will play Canterbury United at 5pm tonight and 10am tomorrow.

Southern coach Darren Hart said the build-up had been a "touch messier" than normal.

The league was beginning a month earlier, which meant the overlap with football had created challenges in the preseason.

That would be the same for every team though and he felt they would all likely be a little scratchy.

Despite that, he hoped to pick up at least four points this weekend to help the side on its way to qualifying for the playoffs.

"That concept of winning the league is really a stepping stone to get into the semifinals and the final," he said.

"You've got to not worry too much about things if you slip up and just make sure you're getting points on the board and saying in the mix for a top-four position.

"Make sure you're hitting that final weekend with everything in place, that's when you want to be hitting top form."

Hart believed the squad was as strong as Southern has had right throughout.

It has some more than
useful additions, in Futsal White Oban Hawkins, former Auckland player Iuri Batista jlde Souza Felix and Queenstown's Jan Kumar.

Many of the key figures are back from previous years, too, and the likes of Mike Sannum, Carlos Hermann and Fraser Hunter will be key players.

The side will be without Tennessee Kinghorn and Matt Brazier this weekend, due to a knee injury and work commitments respectively.

However, it still boasts a strong line-up and Hart said it was making for some difficult selection decisions.

The games are the first of four weekends the league will be played over.

On October 12-13, the side travels to Wellington, before tournaments in Auckland and Wellington in November.

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