Brisbane Roar’s Liberty A-League squad will make their way down south to face Melbourne City for their first away game of the season.
Starting the 2022/23 season in fine form the Roar will look to keep that momentum for the match at Casey Fields this Saturday afternoon.
Head Coach Garrath McPherson said the testing conditions his side has endured so far will place them in great stead for this weekend’s match.
“We’re recovering well, we’re the only team to have played in over 32-degree heat back-to-back but, we’ve got access to a world-class recovery centre through the support of the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS),” he said.
“We’re confident that we’ll be recovered and ready to go.”
Having faced Melbourne City FC on 13 previous occasions, McPherson believes the Roar has all the information they need for a successful game.
“We’ve got our plans; where we want to win the ball back and where we want our passes to go to,” he said.
“We showed in the away game against Melbourne City last year that we had a very effective press, very effective triggers and our players were clear on the plan.
“Player to player, Melbourne City are all very capable and technically sound, we know what their centre midfielders can do, but they’ve also had a change in coaching staff and a bye, so we’ll look to see whether that’s had an impact on their preparation.
“We know we’re match fit and we’re rolling on after two games, what we’re focusing on is what we want to do better after Canberra,” he added.
When discussing the impacts of traveling, McPherson said that this only works to enforce the Roar’s positive culture and team spirit.
“The players quite enjoy traveling, we like the idea of going to somebody else’s home and beating them there, so that’s the mentality we take into our away games”, McPherson said.
“We’ll head down and have a team meal, we also have some new players who will entertain the team, post-dinner with their initiation dance, song or comedy routine.”
Matildas midfielder Katrina Gorry is also poised to make her return to the pitch for the Roar, after a successful stint with Vittsjö GIK in the Damallsvenskan.
Gorry, who made 22 appearances, scoring three goals for the Swedish club, will play an integral role in Roar’s spine, with her experience set to help assist the youthful squad.
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MATCH DETAILS
Melbourne City v Brisbane Roar
Saturday 3 December
Casey Fields
KO 2pm AEST
