He’s made a name of stepping up to the occasion against former sides, and Stefan Mauk is hoping to put his best foot forward against former Club Melbourne City tomorrow night.
After missing recent trips to Perth & Mudgee, the 23-year-old was yesterday named in our 18-man squad to face City at Suncorp Stadium (6:50pm KO).
Mauk made 57 appearances for City across two stints and says these types of challenges bring out the best in him.
“I like playing against people I know, it makes you want to win even more. I feel like there’s that little bit of extra pressure you can put on yourself, which I think I rise to,” Mauk said.
“I always love playing against my old teams & I’ve always played well against my old teams. I’m excited to play because it’s a good chance for us to get three points.”
With the last home clash in Brisbane coming almost four weeks ago, the Roar took training to Suncorp Stadium on Friday morning.
“It’s always good to train at the stadium before the game – you want as many advantages in your home games. They’re coming up here not used to the surface, or the weather.”
The two sides will take the park tomorrow night a fortnight after the Roar’s last fixture in Mudgee following last weekend’s international break.
The conveniently timed break permitted extra recovery time for Mauk, who hasn’t featured since the Round 2 clash against the Phoenix, as well as some fine-tuning across the squad.
“I think the break came at a good time for us. We were positive about our last performance in terms coming from behind away from home, which gave our boys a massive lift,” Head Coach John Aloisi added.
“It gave us that 10 days to improve on what we needed to work on. We’re playing some good football, and we’re confident that these 10 days have us well prepared to give it our all tomorrow night.”
Brisbane will be looking to make Suncorp Stadium a fortress over the coming weeks with Roar’s off-season recruit knowing a fast start is crucial tomorrow night.
“Any team wants to start well, and that creates perceived pressure which is something we need to work on,” Mauk continued.
“The message this week has been that we need to start well, and we’ve been working on that in training, making sure you want to make an impact on the game from the start.”
The Roar has won three of the last five meetings against City at Suncorp Stadium, and the Head Coach is backing a vocal Brisbane crowd to spur their side on in search of a first win this season.
“Our players love playing against Melbourne City, our fans love it when we play them at Suncorp Stadium and they’ll be our 12th man – they’ll push us over the line and push us to that win.”
MATCH DETAILS
Hyundai A-League 2018/19 – Round 5: Brisbane Roar v Melbourne City
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Sunday, 23 November (6:50pm KO)
Brisbane Roar FC squad: 1.Brendan WHITE (gk), 4.Daniel BOWLES, 6.Avram PAPADOPOULOS, 7.Thomas KRISTENSEN, 8.Jacob PEPPER, 9.Adam TAGGART, 11.Eric BAUTHEAC, 13.Stefan MAUK, 14.Alex LOPEZ, 15.Stefan NIGRO, 17.Matt MCKAY (c), 18.Joe CALETTI, 19.Jack HINGERT, 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk), 22.Tobias MIKKELSEN, 23.Dylan WENZEL-HALLS, 24.Connor O’TOOLE, 33.HENRIQUE **two to be omitted**
Ins: 13.Stefan MAUK (returns from injury), 15.Stefan NIGRO (promoted), 18.Joe CALETTI (promoted)
Outs: 2.Dane INGHAM (quad – 1 week)
Unavailable: 10.Brett HOLMAN (knee – TBC)
Melbourne City FC squad: 1.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 2.Ritchie De LAET, 3.Scott JAMIESON (c) , 4.Harrison DELBRIDGE, 5.Bart SCHENKEVELD, 7.Rostyn GRIFFITHS, 8.Riley MCGREE, 10.Dario VIDOSIC, 13.Nathaniel ATKINSON, 15.Kearyn BACCUS, 18.Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk), 19.Lachlan WALES, 21.Ramy NAJJARINE, 23.Bruno FORNAROLI, 25.Iacopo LA ROCCA, 26.Luke BRATTAN, 27.Florin BERENGUER-BOHRER, 34.Connor METCALFE **two to be omitted**
Ins: 21.Ramy NAJJARINE (promoted), 26.Luke BRATTAN (promoted),
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 6.Osama MALIK (calf), 11.Michael O’HALLORAN (hamstring)
Referee: Ryuji Sato (JPN)
Assistant Referee 1: Ashley Beecham
Assistant Referee 2: Andrew Lindsay
Fourth Official: Alex King
VAR: Chris Beath
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