Young Red Jake Barker-Daish receives second chance under Mike Valkanis Jake Barker-Daish is relishing life under new Adelaide United coach Mike Valkanis. ADELAIDE United's Jake Barker-Daish said Young Socceroos duty and injury kept him out of favour when ex-boss John Kosmina was in charge, but now he's keen to put the past behind him. Barker-Daish hardly got a look in under Kosmina but interim coach Mike Valkanis has shown faith in the exciting teenager. The former Gold Coast United youngster, 19, has been a revelation in the holding midfielder's role alongside Jon McKain for the past two Reds matches. Barker-Daish made his starting debut in a 2-0 win over Melbourne Heart at AAMI Park before impressing at Hindmarsh in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle Jets at Hindmarsh last week. Barker-Daish arrived in Adelaide during pre-season last year. "When I first came, Kossie (Kosmina) was a big fan of mine," Barker-Daish said before training at Kidman Park this morning. It looked like I was going to play a bit more but I was with the Young Socceroos a lot and when I came back at the start of the season I had osteitis pubis, which held me out for a little bit. But when I came back (from the Young Socceroos), I guess when you've got such a good midfield with Marcelo (Carrusca), Dario (Vidosic) and Ozzie (Malik) it was to break into, so I guess I had to wait my turn. With Adelaide facing financially crippled Central Coast Mariners at Hindmarsh on Sunday, Barker-Daish said third place was a realistic target after 27 home and away games. Mariners players are still waiting to be paid their monthly wages after payment was due last Friday. Adelaide, however, faces Perth Glory in Perth on Easter Saturday to close off its minor round before playing a home elimination final against a yet to be determined opponent on April 7 at Hindmarsh. "We are just trying to build up as much form and momentum leading into the finals," Barker-Daish said. They're a very strong team and it's a good challenge. I think each week we're trying to play as well as we can and we know how to try and build form leading into the finals and going for third is realistic for us.