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Roar welcome home return

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Brisbane Roar return to Suncorp Stadium tomorrow night for the first time in a month and Head Coach John Aloisi is excited about the upcoming period.

The Roar have played four consecutive away matches across the Hyundai A-League and AFC Champions League and tomorrow night return to the fortress to face arch rivals Melbourne Victory.

With a long list of home matches ahead to round off our campaign, Aloisi backs the Roar to take momentum into the Hyundai A-League finals series.

ā€œOur last four games have been away. We have four [Hyundai A-League] games remaining, three are at home and we know how strong we are at Suncorp Stadium,ā€ he said.

ā€œWe also have two of our three remaining AFC Champions League matches at home so this is a good period for us. We feel that weā€™re in good shape and will come into the finals as high up the table as possible.

ā€œFirst of all, weā€™re looking forward to tomorrowā€™s game.ā€

The Roar and Victory have played out a number of epic clashes in recent times with the Roar snatching a 1-1 draw in stoppage time in their last meeting at Suncorp Stadium, preceded by a classic elimination final that featured three goals in the final 10 minutes.

The Victory got the better of the Roar in the sideā€™s last meeting in January with as a spirited Brisbane comeback fell short in a 3-2 defeat.

Ā ā€œIt was one of those games that they appeared to score every time they went forward. We started the game well and we feel if we can play at that level we can win here,ā€ Aloisi said.

Luke DeVere 16x9

Both sides are without a host of experienced players as Roar Captain Matt McKay has been ruled out with a knee injury while Victory trio Besart Berisha, Marco Rojas and James Troisi are all absent through international duty.

Despite missing their three top goal scorers in this campaign, Aloisi expects a tough test from the second-placed Victory.

ā€œItā€™s not great losing any player but we have Luke DeVere coming back and Tommy Oar isnā€™t far away. Weā€™ve been playing well and weā€™re feeling that weā€™re in good shape,ā€ Aloisi said.

ā€œYou want to play your best team but theyā€™ll still be difficult to play against and do their best to win the game.ā€

Melbourne-born Greek defender Avram Papadopoulos has been named to play his first match at Suncorp Stadium after featuring in the sideā€™s last four matches.

The 32-year-old has made an impressive start to his Roar career in the heart of defence and is looking forward to playing in front of the Brisbane faithful.

ā€œThis team has some very good players with good atmosphere and character and this is very important for me,ā€ Papadopoulos said.

ā€œI have spoken with the boys and they have said itā€™s a great stadium. Iā€™m looking forward to playing my first game there.ā€

ā€œItā€™s an important game for us and weā€™ll be looking to get three points.ā€

Corey Brown

Match details

Hyundai A-League 2016/17 Round 24, Brisbane Roar v Melbourne Victory, Saturday, 25 March 2017. Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane. Kick-off 6:50pm (QLD time).

Brisbane Roar FC squad: 3.Luke DEVERE, 5.Corey BROWN, 6.Avram PAPADOPOULOS, 7.Thomas KRISTENSEN, 8.Jacob PEPPER, 9.Jamie MACLAREN, 10.Brett HOLMAN, 13.Jade NORTH (c), 15.ARANA, 19.Jack HINGERT, 20.Shannon BRADY, 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk), 22.Thomas BROICH, 25.Kye ROWLES, 26.Nick Dā€™AGOSTINO, 28.Brandon BORRELLO, 29.Joe CALETTI, 43.Tomislav BILIC (gk) **two to be omitted**

Ins: 3.Luke DEVERE (returns from injury), 8.Jacob PEPPER (promoted), 22.Thomas BROICH (returns from injury), 25.Kye ROWLES (promoted), 43.Tomislav BILIC (gk) (promoted)

Outs: 1.Michael THEO (gk) (suspended ā€“ 2 matches), 17.Matt MCKAY (knee ā€“ 4-6 weeks), 46.Cameron CRESTANI (not selected) Unavailable: 4.Daniel BOWLES (knee ā€“ season), 11.Tommy OAR (hamstring ā€“ 2 weeks), 24.Connor Oā€™TOOLE (ankle ā€“ 3 weeks)

Melbourne Victory squad: 2.Jason GERIA, 4.Nick ANSELL, 5.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 6.Leigh BROXHAM, 11.Mitch AUSTIN, 14.Fahid BEN KHALFALLAH, 15.Alan BARO, 16.Rashid MAHAZI, 17.James DONACHIE, 19.George HOWARD, 20.Lawrence THOMAS (gk), 21.Carl VALERI (c), 22.Stefan NIGRO, 31.Christian THEOHAROUS, 32.Cameron MCGILP, 35.Josh HOPE, 40.Matt ACTON (gk), 49.Pierce WARING **two to be omitted**

Ins: 19.George HOWARD (promoted), 22.Stefan NIGRO (promoted), 31.Christian THEOHAROUS (promoted), 32.Cameron MCGILP (promoted), 35.Josh HOPE (promoted), 49.Pierce WARING (promoted)

Outs: 7.Marco ROJAS (international duty), 8.Besart BERISHA (international duty), 10.James TROISI (international duty), 23.Jai INGHAM (international duty) Unavailable: Nil

Referee: Matthew Conger; Assistant Referee 1: Nathan MacDonald; Assistant Referee 2: David Walsh; Fourth Official: Jarred Gillett