Brisbane Roar will face Wellington Phoenix in Auckland this Sunday in a bid to find points away from home to back up a marvellous 3-0 victory against the Jets last week.
Wellington have lost their last three Isuzu UTE A-League games in a row, and the Roar will be looking to make that four as they chase a win away from home.
Brisbane Roar have made 60 long passes per game this season, the most of any team in the competition and nine per game more than Phoenix.
The last time these two teams met, Phoenix ran away with three points with a 1-0 win over the Roar.
However, Brisbane were the more dominant side and had more goal opportunities but were unable to convert them after some outstanding goalkeeping from Wellington’s Oli Sail.
The first half was scoreless, with Phoenix opening the scoring in the 65th minute after a cross from Lucas Mauragis found Oskar Zawada for a header into goal.
Jay O’Shea has scored one goal in each of his last five games of the Isuzu UTE A-League season; a sixth consecutive goal scoring game would equal the club record set by Besart Berisha in February 2012.
Interim Head Coach Nick Green is pleased to be back in finals contention but remains focused on taking one game at a time heading into the Roar’s match-up with Wellington.
“It’s something that we did want to look for. However, it’s been a week-to-week process really, it is a good thing, but we’ve got to park that for now and try and get the result this coming weekend,” Green said.
Green commends Henry Hore for his recent performances for the Roar after he scored the opener in their win over Newcastle last Saturday.
“Henry’s done fantastic for myself, he’s started all the games for me and his attitude, his application, his resilience, his grit, his desire, is unbelievable,” he said.
“And technically, he’s affecting the games for us as well so I can’t fault that, he’s been superb for me.”
Green speaks about the importance of backing up wins at home by finding points in away games, and believes his squad needs to find this consistency to further climb the ladder.
“We need to go back that up, if we want to progress up that league table, we’ve got to go and back that up,” he said.
Looking forward to Phoenix this Sunday, Green understands they are a strong side but believes his squad can target certain aspects of their game to return with the three points.
“Wellington have had a good season, they’ve done really well,” he said.
“They have numerous strengths, but they’ve also got areas that we feel we might be able to exploit, and that’s the game and what we’re looking for this weekend.”
Catch the action at Eden Park on Paramount+. KO 1:00PM AEST.
Ins and Outs:
- Macklin Freke, 2. Scott Neville, 3. Jordan Courtney-Perkins, 5. Thomas Aldred, 7. Rahmat Akbari, 10. Nikola Mileusnic, 11. Jez Lofthouse, 12. Taras Gomulka, 13. Henry Hore, 15. Noah Smith, 16. Josh Brindell-South, 17. Carlo Armiento, 19. Jack Hingert, 21. Marcel Canadi, 22. Stefan Scepovic, 23. Jordan Holmes, 26. James O’Shea, 27. Kai Trewin, 28. Joseph Knowles, 35. Louis Zabala.
IN:
OUT: 14. Robbie Kruse (Injured)
