There’s no denying the disappointment of last Saturday night but today Roar Captain Matt McKay drew a line under last week and set the new tone for Friday night’s Hyundai A-League Elimination Final against Melbourne Victory at Suncorp Stadium (7.35 pm KO).
“We love a final,” McKay said as the Grand Final trophy came to Brisbane for the launch of ticket sales for the match.
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McKay says his squad is hurting from not getting the win over Victory in their final round match to secure the Premier’s Plate, but says it is time to “move on”.
“We have a great opportunity – a home final at Suncorp (Stadium), our record is good there this year and it has been in the past,” he said.
“We know the path forward (to teh Grand Final) now, it’s concrete, we know what we have to do and we have the players to perform.
“We have an experienced squad that has been through the finals before.
“Last week we didn’t get the win we wanted but the performance was quite good. The players didn’t step back from what we wanted to do and our game plan, that’s a good sign.
“We will work on our own game (this week) and if we perfect that then we will be hard to stop.”
Roar Head Coach John Aloisi said it was important to understand that his side played well last weekend.
“It was one of those nights that (the ball) didn’t go in. If we create those chances again we will score three or four,” he said.
“We are coming into the Final Series in really good form.
“The performances over the last six games have been our best of the season – won four, drawn one.
“We were disappointed not to get the win that we wanted to give us the Premiership and we will use that disappointment to drive us against Victory again.
“Of course the players were upset after the game and they don’t want to have that feeling again.
“The players are looking forward to it, at home in front of a big crowd. The crowd will push us on like the Victory crowd pushed them on to get a draw. They were excited to get a nil-all draw.
“We felt we created a number of opportunities to win the game and we will do the same this week and take the game to Victory and win our first Finals game (of 2015/16).”
Hyundai A-League boss Damien De Bohun, who was in Brisbane today to display the Grand Final trophy which drew a large media turnout (above), pointed out the competition had seen 421 goals so far and plenty more are expected in the Finals Series.
“What is great about this year is there is no question whatsoever that any one of the six teams in the Finals have a real claim on the biggest prize in Australian football – the Hyundai A-League Championship,” he said.
And De Bohun urged Queenslanders to turn out in force for the latest chapter in the “fantastic rivalry” between the Roar and Victory.
“What we would like to see is every single Queenslander come out to support Brisbane Roar and do everything they can to fill Suncorp Stadium this Friday night and give their side and their troops every chance of winning this great fixture,” De Bohun said.
