Brisbane Roar will take form and confidence into another tough A-League test when they visit Western Sydney Wanderers on Friday night.
Warren Moon’s men head to Bankwest Stadium a week on from their 2-1 away win over Macarthur FC and now have the chance to move back within two points of the sixth-placed Wanderers, who have played two extra games.
The teams fought out an engaging 1-1 draw less than a fortnight ago and Brisbane boss Moon expects another tight contest in Matchweek 17.
“Another tough game. An excellent side, well-coached, and we’ll have challenges no doubt,” Moon said.
“But we need to focus on ourselves and what we do well. Building on the confidence from last week, we’ll hopefully go into this game and perform really well.
“I’ve said all along the performances have been not too bad. We’ve been competitive in every game. We were due [a win], I think we deserved that [against Macarthur], and we can look to build on that.”
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Roar attacker Joey Champness was a standout performer in the last meeting between the teams, the 23-year-old assisting Riku Danzaki’s equaliser and creating several more openings with his skill and speed.
Goals from Danzaki and Dylan Wenzel-Halls led Brisbane to last weekend’s victory over Macarthur and Champness feels his team-mates are finding the cutting edge to turn belief into results.
“Teams always go through patches and there might have been a moment there, but the confidence was always there,” Champness said.
“We always knew we could bring it together in that final third. Everyone has always been in good sprits. It’s another game for us where we’re all excited for the challenge, excited for the challenges that the Wanderers present for us. They’re a good team.
“We go down there knowing their strengths and hoping to capitalise on our strengths.”
MATCH DETAILS
A-League 2020/21 Matchweek 17: Western Sydney Wanderers FC vs Brisbane Roar
Bankwest Stadium, Parramatta
Friday, 16 April (7:05pm kick-off)
Western Sydney Wanderers FC squad: 2.Ziggy GORDON, 4.Dylan McGOWAN (C), 6.Tass MOURDOUKOUTAS, 7.Bruce KAMAU, 8.Jordan O’DOHERTY, 9.Bernie IBINI, 10.Simon COX, 11.Kwame YEBOAH, 12.Mitch DUKE, 13.Tate RUSSELL, 14.James TROISI, 17.Keanu BACCUS, 18.Graham DORRANS, 19.Jordon MUTCH, 27.Nicolai MULLER, 29.Daniel WILMERING, 30.Daniel MARGUSH (gk), 34.Patrick ZIEGLER, 39.Thomas AQUILINA, 40.Noah JAMES (gk)
Ins: 4.Dylan McGOWAN (promoted), 13.Tate RUSSELL (returns from injury), 19.Jordon MUTCH (promoted).
Outs: 33.Mark NATTA (suspended – 1 match)
Unavailable: 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC (long term injury)
Brisbane Roar FC squad: 1.Macklin FREKE (gk), 2. Scott NEVILLE, 3.Corey BROWN, 5.Tom ALDRED (c), 6.Macaulay GILLESPHEY, 8.Danny KIM, 9.Masato KUDO, 10.Riku DANZAKI, 11.Joe CHAMPNESS, 15.Jesse DALEY, 16.Joshua BRINDELL-SOUTH, 17.Golgol MEBRAHTU, 19.Jack HINGERT, 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk), 23.Dylan WENZEL-HALLS, 25.Rahmat AKBARI, 26.Jay O’SHEA, 27.Kai TREWIN, 29.Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS, 34.Alex PARSONS **2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 8.Danny KIM (promoted), 9.Masato KUDO (promoted), 19.Jack HINGERT (return from injury)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Nil
Referee: Alex King
Assistant Referee 1: Kearney Robinson
Assistant Referee 2: Andrej Giev
Fourth Official: Tim Danaskos
VAR: Kris Griffiths-Jones
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 6:30pm (AEST), Sky Sport 7 (New Zealand), Kayo Sports (www.kayosports.com.au) and MyFootball Live App, Live Fast and Data Free for Telstra mobile customers
