Brisbane Roar believe they’re in for their sternest test of the Hyundai A-League season so far on Sunday, up against last season’s Champions Central Coast Mariners at Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford.
Brisbane Roar believe they-re in for their sternest test of the Hyundai A-League season so far on Sunday, up against last season-s Champions Central Coast Mariners at Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford.
While Head Coach Mike Mulvey is without regular starters Besart Berisha (hamstring), Liam Miller (calf) and Shane Stefanutto (hamstring), he believes the difficulty of the fixture lies in the nature of their opponents.
“It-s a big game – we-re playing the Champions,” Mulvey said.
“Brisbane Roar has had their target on their chest for the past couple of years, it-s the Mariners- turn now and rightly so.
“They had a great season last season and virtually a full team of players who have done it and know what it takes.”
Mulvey also confirmed central defender Jade North would be rested after he came off injured in Sunday-s 3-0 win over Melbourne Heart but was confident in the ability of young James Donachie to fill the void.
The defensive partnership between Donachie and captain Matt Smith will have to nullify the effect of last season-s Golden Boot winner Daniel McBreen, who is back with the Mariners after a stint in the Chinese Super League.
But in typical Brisbane Roar fashion, Mulvey said the focus would be wholly on his side-s preparation.
“You know what our DNA is, we want to go there and get the three points,” he said.
“If you follow our doctrine, it-s basically take care of the processes – that means let-s play minute to minute and not worry about the outcome.
“That-ll take care of itself and if we create the chances we-ve been creating, we-ve got people who can score goals, we-ve shared the goals around and we-re capable of scoring.”
The Roar is top of the Hyundai A-League ladder after the opening four rounds of the season with three wins and one loss, while Central Coast is fifth with one win, three draws.
Sunday, 10 November 2013
Central Coast Mariners v Brisbane Roar
Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
Kick-off: 4.00pm Brisbane time (5:00pm AEDT)
Referee: Ben Williams
Assistant Referee 1: Allyson Flynn
Assistant Referee 2: Greg Taylor
Fourth Official: Stephen Lucas
TV Broadcast: 5.00pm (AEDT) Live and exclusive broadcast on FOX Sports 1HD and Sky Sport 3 (New Zealand).
Radio Broadcast: 92.5 ABC Central Coast, 612 ABC Melbourne, ABC Local Radio Victoria, Grandstand Digital, Online/Mobile phone app.Coast FM
Central Coast Mariners squad: 1.Justin PASFIELD (gk), 2.Daniel MCBREEN, 3.Joshua ROSE, 4.Marcel SEIP, 5.Zachary ANDERSON, 6.Brent GRIFFITHS, 7.John HUTCHINSON (c), 8.Nick MONTGOMERY, 9.Mitchell DUKE, 10.Marcos FLORES, 11.Nick FITZGERALD, 12.Liam REDDY (gk), 13.Hayden MORTON, 16.Trent SAINSBURY, 17.Anthony CACERES, 18.Michael NEILL, 19.Matt SIMON, 21.Mile STERJOVSKI *two to be omitted*
Ins: 2.Daniel MCBREEN (returns from China), 13.Hayden MORTON (promoted), 17.Anthony CACERES (promoted), 18.Michael NEILL (promoted)
Outs: 14.Michael MCGLINCHEY (International Duty) , 15.Storm ROUX (International Duty)
Unavailable: 23.Adam KWASNIK (groin – 1 week)
Brisbane Roar squad: 1.Michael THEO (gk), 2.Matthew SMITH (c), 5.Ivan FRANJIC, 10.HENRIQUE, 14.Diogo FERREIRA, 15.James DONACHIE, 17.Matt McKAY, 18.Luke BRATTAN, 19.Jack HINGERT, 29.Matthew ACTON (gk), 22.Thomas BROICH, 23.Dimitri PETRATOS, 26.Corey BROWN, 28.Brandon BORRELLO, 29.Kwame YEBOAH *One to be added*
Ins: Nil
Outs: Jade NORTH (groin – one week)
Unavailable: Shane STEFANUTTO (hamstring – two weeks), Besart BERISHA (hamstring – one week), Liam MILLER (calf – two weeks), George LAMBADARDIS (knee – season)
