After earning a draw on the road last week, Brisbane Roar’s Head Coach Warren Moon is ready to take on a new challenge in Melbourne Victory this weekend.
The Roar will head to Moreton Daily Stadium on Saturday afternoon brimming with confidence after a draw against Western Sydney Wanderers in Round three.
While Roar conceded an early goal on the counterattack, the Roar were the dominant attacking force away as Charlie Austin scored his first Isuzu UTE A-League goal before goals from Scott Neville and Jay O’Shea were disallowed.
With Roar’s first goal of the 2022/23 season in the bag and a strong showing in the attacking half especially from Austin and Joe Knowles, it was a positive sign for Moon.
“I’m not worried about us scoring goals,” Moon said. “As an attacking force we didn’t get the rewards on the day, but I was certainly happy with how we created opportunities.”
There were plenty of positives to take away from last week’s match, which captain Tom Aldred believes will continue to come going forward.
“Chaz is a goal scorer, we all know that he’s scored goals wherever he has been,” he said.
“I think there is more to come from everyone, the squad getting fitter and fitter, stronger and stronger, we’re in a system that takes time to get used to and we’ve seen that now.
“There are positive signs and lots to look forward to.”
It’s been a mixed start to the season for Victory, who took bragging rights in the Big Blue Derby before a loss to the Wanderers and then Melbourne City last week.
Victory will be without central midfielder Josh Brillante, after a red card in the Melbourne Derby.
Despite the results, Moon is wary of the threat the Victory will present with the likes of former Manchester United and Portuguese international Nani, Socceroos’ Nick D’Agostino and Chris Ikonomidis, and midfielder Jake Brimmer, who has been one of his side’s prominent playmakers.
“They’re a big club, one of the biggest in the A-Leagues and the challenges are there for everyone to see but they’re there every week,” Moon said.
“Every team has good players, threats and they have a lot of them but we’re confident with the positives from our first three games and how we can come into this game, obviously not only match them but get the three points,” he added.
Catch all the action between Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory live on Paramount+.
MATCH DETAILS
Isuzu UTE A-League
Brisbane Roar v Melbourne Victory
Saturday 29 October
Moreton Daily Stadium
Kick-off 2pm AEST
TEAM NEWS
Brisbane Roar FC Squad: 1.Macklin FREKE (gk), 2.Scott NEVILLE, 3. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS, 5.Thomas ALDRED ©, 6.Connor CHAPMAN, 7.Rahmat AKBARI, 8.Riku DANZAKI, 9.Charles AUSTIN, 10.Nikola MILEUSNIC, 13.Henry HORE, 15.Jesse DALEY, 16.Joshua BRINDELL-SOUTH, 17.Carlo ARMIENTO, 23.Jordan HOLMES (gk), 26.James O’SHEA, 27.Kai TREWIN, 28.Joseph KNOWLES, 29.Cyrus DEHMIE, 32. James NIKOLOVSKI, 35.Louis ZABALA **(two to be omitted)**
In: 13. Henry HORE (Promoted), 32. James NIKOLOVSKI (Promoted)
Unavailable: 19. Jack HINGERT (Injured), 11. Jez LOFTHOUSE (Injured)
Melbourne Victory squad: 1. Matt ACTON, 3.Enrique LOPEZ, 4.Rai MARCHAN, 6.Leigh BROXHAM, 7.Chris IKONOMIDIS, 9.Tomi JURIC, 11.Ben FOLAMI, 14.Jay BARNETT, 15.George TIMOTHEOU, 16.Stefan NIGRO, 17.Luis NANI, 18.Nick D’AGOSTINO, 20.Paul IZZO, 21.Roderick MIRANDA, 22.Jake BRIMMER, 23.Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS, 24.Nishan VELUPILLAY, 25.Noah SMITH, 26.Lleyton BROOKS, 28.Will WILSON
In: 14.Jay BARNETT (promoted), 26.Lleyton BROOKS (promoted), 28.Will WILSON (promoted)
Out: 8.Josh BRILLANTE (suspended)
Unavailable: 2.Jason GERIA (injured), 5.Matt SPIRANOVIC (injured)
