Brisbane Roar defender Matt Smith says the team will use the experience of last week to their advantage as they attempt to topple Sydney FC and Wellington Phoenix within five days on the road.
The second-placed team in the Hyundai A-League have deemed two wins and a hard-fought draw in a week a success and the 28-year-old said, while travelling will make things a little harder, he doesn-t expect the players to run into any major hurdles in their preparation.
“Over time, you better from different experiences,” Smith said.
“Especially the way we handled ourselves last week – both on and off the pitch – was vitally important.
“If you look at the game against Melbourne, we were still pushing strong and that was our third game in eight days.
“We learnt from it but we-ll also have to adjust for it this week, we-ve got to take into account that there is a lot of travel so we have to be extra cautious in the things we do outside of the training pitch.”
Smith said the Roar-s last away trip against Perth Glory showed their hunger for points regardless of the fixture-s home or away status – something the squad will display on the road again next week.
“We travelled to Perth a couple of weeks ago and I think we scored the winner in the 93rd minute – we were still attacking in the 93rd minute,” he said.
“I don-t know about other teams, they might be content with a draw away from home but we-re certainly not.
“One of the good things about the way we-ve been taught to play this year is that it is very attacking minded and very focused on grabbing the three points, whether we are home or away.”
After a run of six games unbeaten for Ange Postecoglou-s side, the central defender said part of the Roar-s recent success has come down to the freedom and confidence instilled in them by the Brisbane coaching staff.
“We haven-t set any targets for the year which is important, so it takes a bit of pressure of the boys and I think that-s showing,” he said.
“We-ve got the confidence given to us by the management to go and express ourselves on the pitch.
“Part of football is going out and having fun, it-s not all serious.
“It-s about enjoyment as well and I think with the group of boys that we-ve got, it-s very much an enjoyable game for us.”
