Brisbane Roar has secured the services of emerging midfielder Luke Brattan for a further two seasons.
Brisbane Roar has secured the services of emerging midfielder Luke Brattan for a further two seasons.
In a positive step forward for Brisbane, the 22-year-old this week committed himself to the club until the conclusion of the Hyundai A-League 2014/15 season.
Under the guidance of Head Coach Mike Mulvey, Brattan has begun to develop into a vital cog in the Brisbane Roar midfield with his defensive work rate and forward passing coming to the fore in recent weeks.
Brattan said he was delighted to re-sign with his home town club, citing the recent signing of Mulvey to the full-time Head Coach role as a key influence on his decision.
“Being a Brisbane boy, representing my home town club is important to me,” Brattan said.
“Since he-s arrived at the club, Mike-s given me a great opportunity to play regular first team football and that-s been an important step at this stage in my career.
“We have a great group of players at the club and playing week-in, week-out with the likes of Thomas Broich, Besart Berisha, Matt Smith and Shane Stefanutto can only help my development further.
“I really wanted to repay the faith both Mike and the club have shown in me, not just in the past three months, but in my entire time at the club.”
The former Rochdale Rovers player made his Brisbane Roar debut in the Translink Cup clash with Celtic at Suncorp Stadium in July 2009, but had to wait until Round Two of the Hyundai A-League 2010/11 season to make his league debut, against Gold Coast United.
Since that time Brattan has made 31 Hyundai A-League appearances for the club, nine of those this season.
Aside from his general work in the middle of the park, Brattan is also establishing himself as one of the league-s best users of a dead ball.
Head Coach Mike Mulvey said he was extremely pleased to see Brattan commit himself to the club for a further two years.
“There has never been any doubt over Luke-s ability,” Mulvey said.
“What he-s lacked in the past has been an opportunity to play regular senior football.
“He-s now been given that chance and you can see the potential he has to develop into a very important part of our squad moving forward.
“He must be given great credit for the way he-s grasped his opportunity and with further hard work I-m sure he-ll be regarded as one of the most effective midfielders in the league.”
Brisbane Roar this week travels to Newcastle to play the Jets on Friday night at Hunter Stadium.
