Preparation is key according to Brisbane Roar Head Coach Mike Mulvey as his side heads into a Hyundai A-League Week 1 Elimination Final against Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium on Sunday.
Preparation is key according to Brisbane Roar Head Coach Mike Mulvey as his side heads into a Hyundai A-League Week 1 Elimination Final against Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium on Sunday.
The home side have been quick to embrace the underdog tag and some pundits claiming Brisbane will go into the game as favourites to top the Reds.
However Mulvey refused to buy into the pre-game spin, focusing instead on his team-s intensity and preparation ahead of the big match.
“I-m not into underdogs or overdogs, whichever way you want to look at it,” Mulvey said.
“The situation is, it-s a game of football, it-s finals football.
“All I know, and all I care about, is that our preparation is good.
“The opposition will turn up on the day, we-ll turn up on the day and it-s 11 v 11.
“So we-ll see what happens from there.
“What you-ve got to concentrate on is your own preparation, if you do that well you-re half a chance.”
In terms of his team-s preparations, Mulvey said he was pleased with the focus of the players in the final few sessions before Sunday.
A high quality conditioning session on Wednesday was followed by a lively tactical session at Ballymore Stadium this morning as the Roar mentor reinforced the fine details to his squad.
One definite advantage Adelaide United will have at Hindmarsh Stadium is a parochial home crowd and Mulvey said he had emphasised to his players the need to minimise their impact by attacking the home side from the opening whistle.
“There-s going to be 16,000 people there. 15,700 of them are going to be parochial Adelaide fans and three hundred are going to be our fans in the corner,” Mulvey said.
“The mindset we-re going in with is that we want to play our game.
“Each time we-ve gone down there we-ve taken the sting out of the crowd because we-ve kept the ball, we-ve kept possession well and we-ve created goal scoring opportunities.
“It-s going to be a big challenge, Adelaide are a very good team.
“It-s going to be a great challenge and we want to see if we can meet that challenge.
“I-m very confident in our preparation, what we need to do is put what we-ve done on the training paddock into action from the very first whistle on Sunday.”
Sunday, April 7
Adelaide United v Brisbane Roar
Venue: Hindmarsh Stadium
Kick off: 4:30 PM Local | 5:00 PM AEST
Referee: Chris Beath
Assistant referee 1: Matthew Cream
Assistant referee 2: David Walsh
Fourth official: Kris Griffiths-Jones
Live and exclusive broadcast on FOX SPORTS 2HD & 2
ABC Radio Coverage: 891 ABC Adelaide, 612 ABC Brisbane, Local Radio QLD Grandstand Digital Adelaide, Brisbane & Online
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #ALeagueFinals
Adelaide United squad: 1.Eugene Galekovic (c), 2.Osama Malik, 3.Nigel Boogaard, 4.Jon McKain, 5.Iain Fyfe, 6.Cassio, 8.Marcelo Carrusca, 10.Dario Vidosic, 11.Bruce Djite, 12.Antony Golec, 14.Cameron Watson, 15.Jacob Melling, 16.Daniel Bowles, 17.Iain Ramsay, 18.Fabian Barbiero, 19.Jake Barker-Daish, 20.Paul Izzo (gk), 21.Jeronimo Neumann, 22.Fabio Ferreira, 23.Evan Kostopoulos, 24.Awer Mabil, 25.Tomi Juric (Six to be omitted)
In: Nigel Boogaard (returns from suspension), Cassio (returns from injury), Marcelo Carrusca (returns from injury), Jacob Melling, Daniel Bowles, Evan Kostopoulos, Tomi Juric (promoted)
Out: Nil
Unavailable: Nil
Brisbane Roar squad: 1. Michael Theo (gk), 3. Shane Stefanutto, 4. Matt Jurman, 5. Ivan Franjic, 7. Besart Berisha, 8. Massimo Murdocca, 9. Stef Nijland, 10. Henrique, 11. Ben Halloran, 12. Julius Doe, 13. Jade North, 14. Steven Lustica, 15. James Donachie, 17. Mitch Nichols, 18. Luke Brattan, 19. Jack Hingert, 20. Matt Acton (gk), 22. Thomas Broich (c), 21. James Meyer, 25. George Lambadaridis, 26. Corey Brown ( Four to be omitted)
In: 4. Matt Jurman (promoted), 10. Henrique (promoted), 12. Julius Doe, 21. James Meyer (promoted), 25. George Lambadaridis (promoted), 26. Corey Brown (promoted)
Out: Nil
Unavailable: 2. Matt Smith (hip – season)
