Head Coach John Aloisi says the Roar will look to take their ruthless nature in front of goals into Sunday afternoon’s clash with Central Coast Mariners.
The Roar were clinical in a big 4-0 win over Adelaide United last Sunday, drawing praise from Aloisi for the desperation shown by his side at both ends of the pitch.
“You have to be desperate in both boxes. Up front in terms of getting on to the end of plays and defensively you have to protect your goal,” Aloisi said.
“We did that well last week at both ends and we’ll look to do that again tomorrow.
“We’d spoken about being ruthless. If we do create a lot of chances again then we need to make sure that we take them.”
Aloisi’s squad face a trip to Gosford to face the Mariners with the prospect of climbing as high as second place on the Hyundai A-League ladder with a win.
Heading into Sunday’s clash the Roar are undefeated in their past eight Hyundai A-League fixtures while the Mariners enter the match on the back of two defeats.
Brisbane have a good record against the Mariners having won the sides’ previous six meetings including a 1-0 victory earlier this season, as well as winning and keeping clean sheets in the last three visits to Gosford.
Complacency isn’t an issue for the Roar who are aware of the threats the Mariners can pose.
“I don’t see us being complacent, I see us making sure we start the game well and that should lead to a good game,” he said.
“We know it’s not going to be easy. We’ll have to be switched on from the start, match their work ethic and then if we can play the way we know how to play to, we’ll get the result we want.
“They have dangerous and quick players going forward. They’re a team that like to keep the ball, tire you out move you around so we know it’s going to be tough.”
Goalkeeper Michael Theo returns to the Roar’s extended squad for the trip south after missing Sunday’s clash with an injury.
Aloisi says it’s evident that his squad are improving every week but has stressed that it’s important to continue improving and look to gain more momentum every week.
“There’s been no mention of a streak at all, the players know that all we’re looking for is continued improvement,” Aloisi said.
“On the ball we’re getting better, so is our fitness and the understanding of the new players and our players at the back are doing well defensively but we still know that we need to improve.
“If you improve individually and as a team then the results will be there.”
Central Coast Mariners v Brisbane Roar
Central Coast Stadium, Sunday, 18 December (4pm KO QLD time)
Central Coast Mariners squad: 1.Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 2.Storm ROUX, 3.Scott GALLOWAY, 5.Harry ASCROFT, 6.Blake POWELL, 7.Fabio FERREIRA, 8.Nick MONTGOMERY (c), 9.Roy O’DONOVAN, 11.Connor PAIN, 12.Trent BUHAGIAR, 13.Kwabena APPIAH, 14.Adam BERRY, 16.Liam ROSE, 19.Jacques FATY, 20.Paul IZZO (gk), 21.Michael NEILL, 22.Jake McGING, 25.Ryan PETERSON **two to be omitted**Â
Ins: 8.Nick MONTGOMERY (returns from injury), 19.Jacques FATY (returns from injury)
Outs:Â Nil
Unavailable: 10.Mickael TAVARES (ankle – 1 week), 23.Jake ADELSON (ACL – indefinite)
Brisbane Roar FC squad: 1.Michael THEO (gk), 3.Luke DEVERE, 4.Daniel BOWLES, 5.Corey BROWN, 7.Thomas KRISTENSEN, 8.Jacob PEPPER, 9.Jamie MACLAREN, 11.Tommy OAR, 13.Jade NORTH, 15.ARANA, 17.Matt MCKAY (c), 19.Jack HINGERT, 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk), 22.Thomas BROICH, 23.Dimitri PETRATOS, 24.Connor O’TOOLE, 28.Brandon BORRELLO, 33.Joey KATEBIAN **two to be omitted**
Ins: 1.Michael THEO (gk) (returns from injury), 24.Connor O’TOOLE (promoted), 33.Joey KATEBIAN (promoted)
Outs:Â 43.Tomislav BILIC (gk) (not selected)
Unavailable: 10.Brett HOLMAN (knee – 4 weeks)
Referee:Â Chris Beath; Assistant Referee 1:Â Owen Goldrick; Assistant Referee 2:Â Greg Taylor; Fourth Official:Â Ben Abraham
TV Broadcast:Â Live coverage on Fox Sports 505 from 5.00pm (AEDT) and Sky Sport 4 (New Zealand)
Radio Broadcast:Â ABC Grandstand, EON Sports Radio (eonsportsradio.com), Coast FM 96.3
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #CCMvBRI & #FEELTHEROAR
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