Brisbane Roar defender Scott Neville says he’s expecting a tough challenge against his former Club in Sunday’s Hyundai A-League opener at HBF Park.
Neville, one of 14 new recruits in Robbie Fowler’s rejuvenated Brisbane Roar squad, is in contention to make his maiden Hyundai A-League appearance for his new Club in Sunday’s Round One match-up.
The defender made 104 appearances for the Glory across two stints and was part of last season’s Premiership-winning side before swapping Western Australia for Queensland during the off season.
The 30-year-old, who played alongside Head Coach Fowler at the Glory during the 2010/11 season, says he leapt at the opportunity to work with his former teammate.
“Once [Head Coach] Robbie [Fowler] called and said what he wanted to do here, the plan he had in place and the plan he had for myself and the team moving forward, it was something I was excited about and I love a new challenge,” Neville said.
Neville added he wasn’t expecting any quarter to be given by the Perth Glory fans.
“They’ve got a good set of fans and I’m sure they’re going to hammer me and what not but that’s part of the banter,” Neville continued.
“I’ll take it on board and hopefully we can get the win.”
The Roar come into Sunday’s season opener off the back of a strong pre-season which included a 1-0 victory over Sunday’s opponents in August’s Surf City Cup on the Gold Coast.
Neville says Sunday’s clash looms as a perfect measuring stick for his side coming into the new season.
“It’s a great test, the first game of the season against Perth away – it’s a great challenge for us to see how far we’ve progressed during pre-season,” Neville said.
“We had Sydney FC in the FFA Cup, and everyone wrote us off, but we went out and put in a good performance.
“Hopefully we’ve improved since then and we can go over and show the fans what we’ve worked on in pre-season and really implement our game plan,” Neville said.
MATCH DETAILS
Hyundai A-League 2019/20 – Round 1: Perth Glory v Brisbane Roar
HBF Park, Perth
Sunday, 13 October (5pm KO QLD time)
