Ahead of tomorrow night’s midweek clash, Brisbane Roar coach Ange Postecoglou has backed his team to make Wellington Phoenix work hard if they are keen on maintaining their two year unbeaten streak at Westpac Stadium.
The Roar were the last team to claim victory over Wellington at their home ground back in October 2008 thanks to a headed goal from Josh McCloughan.
Since then Ricki Herbert-s side have gone on to record an impressive run of 14 wins and 10 draws.
While Wellington will take the field tomorrow after a 10 day rest, Brisbane are in the middle of a hectic run of games that has seen them play five times since the beginning of October.
Despite their busy schedule, Postecoglou has been impressed with the way his squad has conducted themselves since the squad started their away trip on Friday.
“Everyone has recovered well, we-ve had a couple of sessions over here and they-re all fine, no issues after the weekend,” he said.
“There are some challenges with different time zones and different weather and so forth, but the players have been very professional so far.”
The last time the two sides met back in week four, former Phoenix player Kosta Barbarouses- first goal in Roar colours was the decisive strike against his hometown club at Suncorp Stadium.
While admitting another victory over their trans-Tasman rivals would be sweet, Postecoglou stressed the most important factor for him is still on the overall performance on the park.
The Roar coach-s sentiments are even more appropriate given Saturday-s frustrating game against Sydney FC where Brisbane dominated long periods of the game but only came away with a point.
“We-ve been pretty consistent in saying that it-s about our performances, if we keep playing good football and we keep playing well, the rest should take care of itself,” he said.
“Even the result is secondary to the performance.
“We weren-t really happy with the way things went in the first half (against Sydney), certainly in the second half the boys picked it up, regardless we could have got the points.
“From our point of view, we want to be consistent in our performances and keep improving, and the players are well aware of that.”
In the Roar-s fifth trip to Westpac Stadium, Postecoglou said he was likely to make some minor changes to the side that drew with Sydney, but hadn-t decided on the make-up of his team just yet.
Outside of the eleven players that started against the Sky Blues, the Brisbane coach has a wealth of attacking options to call upon including Wellington-born Barbarouses, Costa Rican striker Jean Carlos Solorzano, left-footed Rocky Visconte and full-back Milan Susak.
“We-ve got a squad of 16 over here and we-ve got some options to change things around a little bit,” he said.
“We will probably freshen up a bit and will probably do the same for Saturday-s game.”
Wellington Phoenix v Brisbane Roar
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Local kick-off: 7.30pm (5.30pm AEDT)
Referee: Chris Beath
Assistant referees: Joe Fusari and Josh Mannella
Fourth official: Matthew Cheeseman
Live and exclusive broadcast on Fox Sports 2, FS2 HD & on Sky Sport 1 (NZ). Hyundai A-League club broadcast partner is The Radio Network (Wellington) 1035AM. To purchase tickets visit www.ticketek.co.nz
Wellington Phoenix squad: 1. Mark PASTON (gk), 2. Manny MUSCAT, 4. Nick WARD, 6. Tim BROWN, 7. Leo BERTOS, 8. Paul IFILL, 9. Chris GREENACRE, 11. DANIEL, 13. Troy HEARFIELD, 14. Mirjan PAVLOVIC, 15. Jade NORTH, 17. Vince LIA, 18. Ben SIGMUND, 19. Danny VUKOVIC (gk), 22. Andrew DURANTE (c), 23. Dylan MACALLISTER, 26. Simon ELLIOTT
*two to be omitted*
In: Simon ELLIOTT (short-term injury replacement), Dylan MACALLISTER (promoted)
Out: Nil
Unavailable: Tony LOCHHEAD (groin – 7 weeks), (Oscar ROBERT CORNEJO (knee – 6 weeks)
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 10): Wellington Phoenix wins 1, Brisbane Roar wins 6 (3 draws)
