Striker Jamie Maclaren says the Roar are backing themselves to put in a strong performance against Melbourne City at one of the most feared venues for travelling sides.
The Roar have lost just once at Suncorp Stadium in the last 18 months and the 2015-16 Hyundai A-League Young Player of the Year says the side are confident heading into Friday night’s blockbuster clash between two sides with plenty of attacking options.
Maclaren (below centre) and Brandon Borrello (below left) scored their first goals of the season in a Roar squad with a raft of attacking players and will face off against City’s Bruno Fornaroli and Tim Cahill.
Fans are encouraged to wear orange to the match for the opportunity to win a signed maroon Brisbane Roar 2016/17 jersey at half-time. Tickets are available to purchase HERE.
“We always play really good football at Suncorp. We’re back there for the second time in a week which is great and we’re confident after a good win against Perth, who are a very good side, and now we turn our attention to Melbourne City,” he said.
“We back ourselves at home. You look at our record at the venue, it’s amazing.
“It all comes down to the fans – they’re very loud. The pitch is a little bit bigger, it’s an amazing surface and we go into each game there confident.
“We’ve had some great memories there and we want to continue that.”
The Roar have bolstered an already lethal attacking lineup with Dimitri Petratos and Manuel Arana (below) included in John Aloisi’s squad for the first time this season.
Despite the short five day turnaround Head Coach John Aloisi says his squad have recovered well and are excited about Friday night’s challenge against the quality of Melbourne City.
“The players have recovered really well. Whoever plays, no matter whether they played on Sunday, will be ready to go.,” he said.
“It’s a big game, Friday night against Melbourne City. The plays will be up for it and I don’t think there’ll be any fatigue.
“In every team that we play against there are quality players. We’ll still play to our structures and make sure that we do our job.”
Despite only keeping one clean sheet for the season, the Roar have conceded the fewest shots at goal across the league which Aloisi has credited to solid defending throughout the whole squad.
“We know that it’s going to be difficult again this weekend, we’ve worked on how to defend against City’s attack and hopefully the players will be able to execute that,” Aloisi said.
Friday’s match will be Socceroo legend Tim Cahill’s only visit to Suncorp Stadium for the Hyundai A-League season, and Aloisi anticipates a strong crowd valiantly supporting the boys in orange.
“We know it’s going to be an entertaining game. We score goals at home, City are a team that can score goals so it will be two teams who like to play entertaining football.”
After receiving a call-up on Wednesday to Ange Postecoglou’s Caltex Socceroos side to face Thailand on November 15 following his first goal of the Hyundai A-League season against Perth Glory on Sunday, Maclaren says it’s nice to be able to repay the faith shown to him by his senior coaches.
“It’s always an honour. I want to build on my one cap against England and I feel like it’s a good opportunity in a must-win game against Thailand and I hope I can contribute,” he said.
“It’s nice to get off the mark. Ange [Postecoglou] knows I can score goals, so does John Aloisi and it’s nice to be able to repay the confidence that the coaches give me.
Brisbane Roar FC v Melbourne City FC
Hyundai A-League Round 5
Friday, 4 November 2016, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane (6:50pm Local Time)
Brisbane Roar FC: 1.Michael THEO (gk), 3.Luke DEVERE, 4.Daniel BOWLES, 5.Corey BROWN, 7.Thomas KRISTENSEN, 8.Jacob PEPPER, 9.Jamie MACLAREN, 10.Brett HOLMAN, 11.Tommy OAR, 13.Jade NORTH, 15.ARANA, 16.Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS, 17. Matt MCKAY (c) (pictured below), 19.Jack HINGERT, 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk), 22.Thomas BROICH, 23.Dimitri PETRATOS, 28.Brandon BORRELLO **two to be omitted**
Ins: 15.ARANA (promoted), 16.Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS (promoted), 23.Dimitri PETRATOS(promoted)
Outs: 33.Joey KATEBIAN (illness – 1 week)
Unavailable: Nil
Melbourne City FC squad: 1.Thomas SORENSEN (gk), 2.Manny MUSCAT, 3.Josh ROSE, 4.Connor CHAPMAN, 5.Ivan FRANJIC, 6.Osama MALIK, 8.Neil KILKENNY, 10.Anthony CACERES, 11.Bruce KAMAU, 12.Nick FITZGERALD, 17.Tim CAHILL, 18.Paulo RETRE, 20.Dean BOUZANIS (gk), 22.Michael JAKOBSEN, 23.Bruno FORNAROLI (c), 26.Luke BRATTAN, 27.Fernando BRANDAN, 35.Christian CAVALLO **two to be omitted**
Ins: 5.Ivan FRANJIC (promoted), 17.Tim CAHILL (returns from injury), 22.Michael JAKOBSEN (returns from injury/soreness)
Outs: 21.Ruon TONGYIK (omitted)
Unavailable: 7.Corey GAMEIRO (ACL – season), 28.Steve KUZMANOVSKI (ACL – season)
Referee: Peter Green; Assistant Referee 1: Nathan MacDonald; Assistant Referee 2: Ashley Beecham; Fourth Official: Alan Milliner
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on Fox Sports 505 from 7.00pm (AEDT), SBS 2 from 7.30pm (AEDT) and Sky Sport 4 (New Zealand)
Radio Broadcast: Online & via the ABC Radio Mobile App – A-league Live Following cricket coverage: 612 ABC Brisbane, ABC Local Radio Qld, 774 ABC Melbourne & ABC Local Radio Vic, Grandstand Digital, Crocmedia A-League Live (www.facebook.com/A-leagueLIVERadio), 1116 SEN (Melbourne), EON Sports Radio (eonsportsradio.com)
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