Brisbane Roar boss, Ruben Zadkovich says his side are keeping their foot on the pedal ahead of Saturday’s Isuzu UTE A-League Round 17 clash against Perth Glory at HBF Park.
Zadkovich returns to Perth for the first time since departing the club where he spent a season and half at the helm alongside assistant, Chris Coyne as the pair lead Glory to within a point of finals football.
A number of former Glory players are also in the mix to face their former club with Keegan Jelacic, Antonee Burke-Gilroy, Carlo Armiento and Scott Neville having all previously played A-League football in the west.
Roar are unbeaten in two under Zadkovich, including a stunning 5-1 win over defending Premiers, Melbourne City last weekend thanks to goals from Thomas Waddingham, Kai Trewin, Jay O’Shea and Keegan Jelacic.
With just ten rounds remaining of the 2023/24 regular season Roar sit eighth on 21 points, just two points shy of the competitions top six, while Glory, who are on a four-match unbeaten run are in eleventh position of 16 points.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s match up with his former club, Zadkovich said his said are looking to keep building on their upward shift in form.
“It’s a good test, it’s a good challenge for the group, obviously a couple of solid performances from us now which is nice,” Zadkovich said.
“I feel like we’ve kind of wrestled the momentum back in our favour which is good and when you’ve got momentum you want to keep your foot on the pedal, so we look to travel to Perth in good spirits and in good health and go over there and put in another solid performance.”
The Roar boss added that confidence was flowing amongst the group following last weekend’s 5-1 win over Melbourne City.
“I think we deserved it, we played some exceptional stuff at times and were very clinical in front of goal,” Zadkovich said.
“I feel the two performances with the ball were very similar, I just think it was our front third which was the edge and the difference and the belief’s big in the group so it’s nice to have a week again training and preparing.
“We know it’s a tough challenge, Perth are in good form, they’ve got some quality players and it’s a difficult place to go but we go there with the expectation of getting three points.”
Saturday’s match at HBF Park kicks off at 8:45pm and will be broadcast live on Paramount+
MATCH DETAILS
Isuzu UTE A-League Men 2023/24 – Round 17 Perth Glory v Brisbane Roar
HBF Park, Perth
Saturday, 17 February (8:45pm AEST KO)
