Brisbane Roar go up against Western United in Round 21 of the Isuzu UTE A-League at home this Saturday which will see the Roar in a purple kit in support of Epilepsy Queensland’s #MakeMarchPurple campaign.
The Roar currently sit 11th on the ladder trailing behind Western United who are in seventh place and will be looking to overtake Sydney FC for a top six spot.
Brisbane have not been able to piece together a win since defeating Perth Glory 2-1 at Kayo Stadium and will aim to make it two consecutive wins on home soil.
Western United have been in good form, winning their last three games and will be coming to Kayo Stadium determined to make it four which would equal the club record set twice previously in December 2021 and March 2022.
Brisbane Roar have made 26 shots at goal from set pieces this Isuzu UTE A-League season, the most of any team in the competition and twice as many as Western United.
Their last meeting was in Round 10 resulted in a 1-1 draw, however Brisbane were the more dominant side with several goal opportunities and more football being played in Western United’s half.
A Jay O’Shea pass to Henry Hore in the 18-yard box saw him take a back-heel touch for Carlo Armiento to strike the right of goal, giving Brisbane the lead 1-0.
Western United’s Josh Risdon put a ball in from long range for Aleksander Prijovic to header it into the bottom left corner of the goal equalising in the 78th minute.
Western United are reigning champions after winning the Isuzu UTE A-League competition last year and will be striving for another spot in the top six, but the Roar will look to stop any chance of going back-to-back.
Jay O’Shea has won possession eight times per game this season, the second-most of any player in the competition behind Western United’s Neil Kilkenny.
Interim Head Coach Nick Green says his team is prepared for the Western United clash at home and hopes to get three points in a bid to find some consistency moving forward.
“Anybody on the day can beat anybody. We’ve prepared well this week, we understand what’s coming on the weekend, but we want to cause problems for them as well,” Green said.
“And we want to try and get that win on the board, it’s been missing for a couple of weeks, and it’s something that we’re looking to strive for on Saturday,” he added.
Green aims to improve on certain aspects of his team’s game to make it more difficult for Western United to break them down on the weekend.
“We have been close, I should be stood here now with at least a couple more points on the board,” he said.
“It’s about refining little details that we feel have probably let us down as a group, but if we can work on those and improve those and take those into games then hopefully, we’re going to be a bit more resilient and a little bit harder to break down as well.”
Captain Tom Aldred is proud to be wearing a purple Brisbane Roar kit this weekend in support of #MakeMarchPurple for people living with Epilepsy.
“It’s really important for us as a club at Brisbane Roar to raise awareness of the condition of epilepsy and of course, we support that hugely. We’ll be proud to wear that tomorrow,” Aldred said.
“Playing football in Queensland at a young level in the most participated sports and I feel like we’ve got a huge platform as a football club to raise that awareness,” he added.
“For us to wear the colour of purple is hugely important for us and we’re very proud to do that.”
Epilepsy Queensland’s CEO Chris Dougherty is proud to be partnering with Brisbane Roar for the third year in a row and aims to raise awareness for the neurological condition that turns a life upside down every 33 minutes.
“As the largest grassroots participation sport in the country, it gives us a really good opportunity to spread that message, raise that awareness and help people to live well with their epilepsy,” Dougherty said.
“The team, as well as the club, have been really supportive of that campaign,” he added.
“We’re hoping fans come along on the weekend wearing purple. They’ll certainly take away an awareness of epilepsy being the most common neurological condition that’s affecting Queenslanders, and that ultimately, we need to do more to support them.”
Catch the action at 4:00pm AEST on Paramount+ or buy your tickets here.
