Brisbane Roar applied pressure but were unable to come away with any points from their trip to Coopers Stadium, losing 1-0 to Adelaide United on Sunday night.
Head Coach Warren Moon faced the assembled media after full-time.
“Adelaide were good in the first half,” Moon said. “We set up a certain way based on the amount of fixtures we’ve had in the last few weeks but I was really pleased with the response.”
“We got the penalty, didn’t take it, had a couple of other near misses [but] in the second half I thought we were very good,” he continued.
“I thought we were unlucky without being clinical. We had some moments and controlled the majority of the second half.”
The Roar’s chances were dealt a blow when Josh Brindell-South was forced from the field with an arm injury late in the first half.
“Still unclear [at this stage]. I think his shoulder popped out so we’ll have to see how bad it is but I haven’t actually got the diagnosis,” Moon said when asked about the extent of the issue.
Brisbane commenced the game with some regular starters among the substitutes owing to the incredibly tight fixture schedule.
Instead, Moon handed Alex Parsons and Cyrus Dehmie their first senior starts as a reward for the pair’s brilliant NPL Queensland form and exciting A-League cameo appearances.
“There was going to be a game where we had to rest Jay [O’Shea] and Riku [Danzaki] and Dylan [Wenzel-Halls], so it just happened to be tonight,” he explained.
“I thought the boys that played tonight did quite well at times. We were disappointed with the goal that we conceded but we stayed in the game.
“Obviously when we brought those [experienced] players on we expected them to make an impact and they certainly did. We’re disappointed we didn’t get a result in the end, because based on the second half I thought we could have got something out of the match.”
When asked about the road ahead, Moon said the goal remains Finals Series qualification.
“We have games to play and I think a couple of wins and a point here and there will probably get us into the Finals and I think that’s got to be our goal. Regardless of who we play, where we play, we’ve got to try to get three points.”
Overall, Moon saw plenty of promise ahead of a rare full week of training leading into Friday night’s away game against Newcastle Jets.
“There were a lot of positives there tonight without getting a result,” he said.
“Like I said, for us moving forward now we just have to put in the performances and pick up results to make the Finals.”
