Brisbane Roar Head Coach, Alex Smith says his side are making positive progress ahead of Thursday’s Liberty A-League clash against Melbourne City at AAMI Park.
Roar come into Thursday’s clash off of a pair of promising displays in back-to-back draws against the Wanderers and Sydney FC but will face arguably their sternest test yet when they go up against the league leaders at AAMI Park.
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Roar start the weekend in eighth position on the Liberty A-League ladder and aim to become just the second team in competition history to notch 100 league wins with a victory on Thursday.
Alex Smith, who is boosted by the return of livewire attacker Mariel Hecher to the matchday squad for the first time this season said his side are looking to build on their strong performances in recent weeks.
“It’s going to be a tough trip, I obviously spent quite a while down there working for the club, so I know what they’re all about and the quality that they have in their team,” Smith said.
“We’re just looking to build on the last couple of performances and keep improving.
“There’s still a long way to go, but these things take time and Sydney I thought in particular, we controlled the game and did really well.
“To do that away from home against a Championship team like Sydney was really pleasing from my point of view, but we need to start getting some reward for our dominance and start turning our chances into goals.”
Prior to coming on board in Brisbane, Smith spent three seasons working as an Assistant Coach with City’s ALW team alongside their current Head Coach, Dario Vidosic, whom he will go up against on the touchline for the first time on Thursday.
“It’s going to be fun, we spent a long time together, we’re great mates so it’s going to be a challenge and hopefully we can do a few things to them to make them think a little bit and I’m sure he’s probably chalking something up for me as well,” Smith said.
“It’ll be good to go down there and see everybody and I’m sure it’ll be a great battle both on the pitch and on the touchline as well.”
Thursday’s match at AAMI Park kicks off at 4pm and will followed by an ALM clash between the two sides which kicks off at 6:45pm. Both matches will be broadcast live on Paramount+.
MATCH DETAILS
Liberty A-League Women 2023/24 – Round 10: Melbourne City v Brisbane Roar
AAMI Park, Melbourne
Thursday, 28 December (4pm KO)
