The question on everyone’s lips for the past fortnight has been whether a bye in the second round has been a good or a bad thing for the Brisbane Roar.
The question on everyone-s lips for the past fortnight has been whether a bye in the second round has been a good or a bad thing for the Brisbane Roar.
After a strong opening week performance against Gold Coast United, Brisbane was forced to cool its heals with a second week bye.
The week watching on from the sidelines has enabled Brisbane head coach Ange Postecoglou to call on the services of Brazilian striker Reinaldo and left wing flyer Rocky Visconte for Saturday night-s clash with Sydney FC at Suncorp Stadium.
Both players have used the extra week between matches to recover from hamstring injuries and be available for selection.
However asked whether the time off had been of benefit Postecoglou said only time would tell, but he tipped his players to be ready for battle.
“It-s been a good week at training,” Postecoglou said.
“To the player-s credit they-ve been working really hard, but you just get the sense they want to play.
“I-m sure tomorrow night we-ll definitely have the right attitude going into it because the players are looking forward to having a game.”
Postecoglou said his side would not underestimate the current Hyundai A-League champions regardless of the slow start they had made to the season.
He also said the absence of Sydney strikers Alex Brosque and Mark Bridge would not lull his side into believing the job was already half done.
“Is it good news (Bridge and Brosque are missing)? Everybody keeps telling me it-s good news and that-s the stuff you worry about when you-re a coach,” he said.
“If you start thinking it-s going to be any easier you can fall into a trap.
“Certainly, from our point of view, we haven-t changed our thinking
“We-re expecting a tough game tomorrow night and we-re preparing to face the team that won the championship last year.
“The fact they-ve got a couple of players missing, you-ve basically got to disregard that and concentrate on what we-re doing.”
Saturday, 21 August 2010
Brisbane Roar v Sydney FC
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Local kick-off: 7.30pm
Referee: Chris Beath
Live and exclusive broadcast on FOX Sports 3, FS3 HD. To purchase tickets visit the Ticketek website.
Brisbane Roar Squad: 1. Michael THEOKLITOS (gk), 2. Matt SMITH, 3. Luke DEVERE, 4. Shane STEFANUTTO, 5. Ivan Franjic, 6. Erik PAARTALU, 7. Kosta BARBAROUSES, 10. HENRIQUE, 11. REINALDO, 12. Matt MUNDY, 14. Rocky VICSCONTE, 15. Matt McKAY (c), 17. Mitch NICHOLS, 18. Luke BRATTAN, 20, Andrew REDMAYNE, 21. James MEYER, 22. Thomas BROICH, 23. Milan SUSAK *three to be omitted*
In: 14. Rocky VISCONTE (returns from injury), 11. REINALDO (returns from injury)
Out: 8. Massimo MURDOCCA (quad strain – 1 week)
Unavailable: 9. Jean Carlo SOLORZANO (conditioning)
Sydney FC squad: 1. Liam REDDY (gk), 2. Sebastian RYALL 3. Stephan KELLER, 5. Hayden FOXE, 6. Hirofumi MORIYASU, 7. Brendan GAN, 8. Stuart MUSIALIK, 10. Nick CARLE, 11. Kofi DANNING, 12. Shannon COLE, 13. Antony GOLEC, 15. Terry MCFLYNN (c), 17. Matthew JURMAN, 20. Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 21. Scott JAMIESON, 22. Sung-Hwan BYUN, 23. Rhyan GRANT
*one to be omitted*
In: Hirofumi MORIYASU (promoted), Matthew JURMAN (promoted)
Out: Alex BROSQUE (Ankle – 1 week)
Unavailable: Mark BRIDGE (hamstring – 1 week),
Head-to-Head: All matches (played 17): Brisbane Roar wins 5, Sydney FC wins 5 (7 draws)
