Brisbane Roar travel south having never recorded a win at Sydney Football Stadium, but goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos says the newly structured Brisbane squad will be looking to rewrite the statistics on Saturday night.
While the loyal Brisbane supporters may recall their team-s unlucky away results against the Sky Blues, Theoklitos said the team would take the field looking to turn around their record in Sydney that shows five draws and three losses.
“It-s a completely new squad, there are 12 or 13 new faces and I think the history has been thrown out the window,” he said.
“Even though we won against them last time, it-s irrelevant.
“It-s what happens in the following game.”
Sydney FC-s slow start to the Hyundai A-League 2010/11 season has been well-documented, but after recording their first victory of the campaign last week against Perth Glory, the 29-year-old ‘keeper said his side had to be wary of the resurgent team.
“They-re going to have their confident up after their first win,” he said.
“It-s always been a tough place to go and get the three points, that-s what you play for, playing in front of big crowds at great stadiums.
“Sydney are the champions at the end of the day, let-s make no mistakes they-re a good team.
“They-ve gone through a bad spell and every team does so we-re going to show them the respect they definitely deserve but really concentrate on our performance.”
Unbeaten in their past six Hyundai A-League outings, Theoklitos praised the commitment of his teammates this season that has led to Brisbane scoring 14 goals and conceding just seven.
“It-s not just the back four, it-s the whole team in general (is doing well),” he said.
“The pressure we put on other teams when we lose the ball starts from the final third, from Reinaldo, from Kosta, through to our midfield.
“That-s why I think we-re having such great success to date, because we-ve got a lot of depth and a lot of boys pushing each other and that shows on the weekends.
“Everyone in front of me has been doing a great job and hopefully we can continue that good work against Sydney.”
Ahead of another gruelling eight day period, Theoklitos said the upcoming fixtures would test Brisbane even further but said the squad had to remained focused on each individual game instead of looking at the broader picture.
“It-s obviously going to be quite difficult, it-s going to be taxing on the boys but in saying that, we know what to expect because we had three games last week,” he said.
“We just want to take it one game at a time and really focus our energy onto Sydney, and after that move onto the next game.”
Brisbane play Sydney FC on Saturday 29 October at Sydney Football Stadium, kicking off at AEST 4.14pm.
Sydney FC v Brisbane Roar
Saturday, 30 October 2010
Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
Local kick-off: 5.15pm (AEDT)
Referee: Peter Green
Assistant referees: Allyson Flynn and Sarah Ho
Fourth official: Stuart Wolfe
Live and exclusive broadcast on FOX Sports 1, FS1 HD & delayed Sky Sport 3 (NZ). Hyundai A-League club broadcast partner is SBS 6 (Digital). To purchase tickets visit www.ticketek.com.au
Sydney FC squad: 1. Liam REDDY (gk), 2. Sebastian RYALL, 3. Stephan KELLER, 5. Hayden FOXE, 6. Hirofumi MORIYASU, 7. Brendan GAN, 8. Stuart MUSIALIK, 9. Bruno CAZARINE, 10. Nicky CARLE, 11. Kofi DANNING, 12. Shannon COLE, 14. Alex BROSQUE, 15. Terry MCFLYNN (c), 16. Terry ANTONIS, 19. Mark BRIDGE, 20. Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 21. Scott JAMIESON, 22. Sung-Hwan BYUN, 24. Dimitri PETRATOS
*four to be omitted*
In: Nil
Out: Nil
Unavailable: Nil
Brisbane Roar squad: 1. Michael THEOKLITOS (gk), 2. Matt SMITH, 3. Luke DEVERE, 5. Ivan FRANJIC, 6. Erik PAARTALU, 7. Kosta BARBAROUSES, 8. Massimo MURDOCCA, 9. Jean Carlos SOLORZANO, 11. REINALDO, 12. Matt MUNDY, 14. Rocky VISCONTE, 15. Matt McKAY (c), 17. Mitch NICHOLS, 20. Andrew REDMAYNE (gk), 22. Thomas BROICH, 23. Milan SUSAK.
*one to be omitted*
In: Milan SUSAK (returns from hamstring injury)
Out: Nil
Unavailable: Shane STEFANUTTO (Hamstring – 1 week), HENRIQUE (broken arm – indefinite)
Head-to-Head: All matches (played 18): Sydney FC wins 5, Brisbane Roar wins 6 (7 draws)
