The situation: A win for MetroStars on Sunday and for APIA tonight against bottom side Sydney United would keep the Adelaide club within three points of the top two with one game remaining. In this scenario, MetroStars will need to win big against Sydney United in Round 6 for goal difference’s sake and hope the other match doesn’t end in a draw.

Alternatively, if Sydney United can get a result against APIA tonight, then two wins for MetroStars means the result of the Round 6 match between APIA and Basywater can end in a draw, however it becomes all about goal difference at that point.

The final—and most precarious—route for MetroStars comes into being if they fail to win on Sunday but beat or match APIA’s result tonight (they draw and APIA loses, they both draw or they both lose). If they draw and APIA loses, they simply need to win next week and hope APIA doesn’t. If the results are matched, they’ll need to thrash Sydney United and hope APIA loses. Got it? Simple.

Fortunately for MetroStars, their players aren’t wasting as much time going over the contingencies as I am.

While Nagel shared that he and his teammates will be watching the Sydney United vs APIA match, the result won’t affect their posture heading into Sunday. “We’ve got this mindset that we need to just focus on ourselves,” he said.

“If we’re focused on another team, it’s taking energy off of thinking about ourselves—we can’t control [the other result].

“What we’ll do is obviously watch how the game goes, because we’ve still got more games to play. But again, it’s all about us just keeping 100 per cent of our attention on Sunday.”

Nagel believes that while his side are going for all three points, Bayswater may have a different objective.

“[For] Bayswater, this Sunday is probably [about] just looking at securing a point, because that’s what they need to get through to that next stage,” he explained.

“Potentially, the way the game might look is that they might be sitting in a low block and we’re going to have to try and break that down.”

The defender added that patience will be crucial, especially if the breakthrough goal doesn’t come early.

“Obviously in an ideal world, getting that goal early would be fantastic,” he admitted, “but we talk about our identity as a team, and sometimes it is [based on] patience.

“It’s making sure that our mindset is that if we haven’t, for example, scored in the first half or it’s approaching midway through the second half, that we just keep to our processes and we don’t change the way we play under those circumstances.

“Because at the end of the day, sticking to what we do and what we do well will give us our best opportunity to get that goal and that win.”

Bayswater have shown themselves to be one of the Championship’s more physical sides, and Nagel expects nothing different from them on Sunday.

“We’ve always had these conversations, even throughout the year, that … the way the league is in South Australia is different to how it’s played in Melbourne, New South Wales [and] Western Australia,” he said.

“We’re very much a ball-playing, technical team … [while] some of these Western Australian teams [and] Melbourne teams—they’re physical, they are quite direct and, at the end of the day, we need to match that.

“There’s going to be, probably, a lot of direct play that we’re going to have to absorb and deal with … then once we do retain the ball, [the challenge is] to not make it that physical fight.

“Can we get it on the ground, can we move it, can we have them run and … not sort of match what they want or how they want us to play.”

It’s been a month since Nagel and his teammates have played in Adelaide, and he’s relishing the return to home soil.

“I’ve missed playing in front of the fans,” he said. “Even throughout the [open] training [sessions], you could tell that our supporters … are all very excited to finally come out to a home game.

“Although it’s been tough for the past three weeks, I can’t think of a better way to actually finish off these the rounds. We’ve got two home games in front of hopefully a very good and supportive fanbase.

“It’s that cliché of [them] being the twelfth man—it’s amazing. And to be honest, I was so impressed with, last week during the game, hearing how many of our fans travelled over to support us.

“We’ve had a lot of that and that’s something I really cherish—having such a strong community at MetroStars.”

Nagel shared that the club has also been receiving words of support from other teams in the state.

“It’s such an encouraging feeling knowing that you almost feel like you’ve got all of South Australia supporting you,” he said. “[We’ve been] getting messages from other local clubs wishing us the best.

“It’s been quite special … [and] a really enjoyable and memorable experience.”