Far from affecting their training schedule, Kosta Barbarouses says Brisbane’s wet weather has worked in the Roar’s favour this week, sharpening the squad up for a crack at competitions new boys Melbourne Heart at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.
While the Kiwi striker admits he-s slightly more used to the conditions than some of his teammates may be, Barbarouses said the ball moves quicker along the wet surface which suits the Roar-s new playing style.
A style which Brisbane-s squad will hope can help them extend their unbeaten home run to five matches, a stretch of results which began in round 25 last season with a memorable 1-0 win over Sydney FC.
“The rain hasn-t really affected me, I-m from Wellington so I-m used to it,” he said.
“We can still train just fine.
“If anything, the pitch is even better because the ball skids around a bit so it-s not really a problem for us.”
Barbarouses scored the winning goal against former club Wellington Phoenix in week three of the competition on the end of a fantastic passing move which is indicative of Brisbane-s flair this season.
Despite some strong early showings from the New Zealand international, his last two appearances have come off the bench following a slight reshuffle in the side.
The 20-year-old confesses he was a little disappointed at being relegated to the bench, but said it-s made him even more eager to win back his spot in the starting eleven.
“It-s not easy to be dropped from the side but it only makes you work harder,” he said.
“I-ll keep working hard and when the opportunity comes, hopefully this weekend, I-ll take it.
“Hopefully I can get another goal under my belt and we-ll see how we go from there.”
With Saturday-s match against Melbourne Heart on the horizon, Barbarouses said he-s been keeping an eye on the competition-s newest team.
The Heart have recently found some rhythm after a tough opening to the season and Saturday-s clash promises to be another open and attacking affair.
“We played them in the preseason but they had a lot of players missing.,” he said.
“I-ve been watching them and they-re starting to get used to each other, and they look like a good team.
“But I think if we play to our potential, we can get the three points for sure.”
Brisbane Roar’s match against Melbourne Heart is at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday 25 September. Kick-off is at 5.15pm.
