Brisbane Roar defender Scott Neville is confident his side can bounce back in front of strong home support at Suncorp Stadium.
The Roar face the Mariners on Saturday afternoon (4pm KO) as they return to Suncorp Stadium for only the second time this Hyundai A-League campaign.
It has been a rollercoaster start to the season for the Roar who fell to the Phoenix in Wellington last week after a stunning comeback win against Melbourne City.
Neville knows last week’s performance was lacking but the team is eager to put the result right with a strong showing in Brisbane.
“After the good win we had against Melbourne City, we were full of confidence and unfortunately we didn’t quite perform,” Neville said.
“We weren’t at our best [against Wellington], we’ll admit that, but we have to go back to the drawing board and really put on a good performance for the fans at home at Suncorp Stadium.”
Saturday’s meeting with the Mariners will be only the second fixture at Suncorp Stadium in the first eight rounds of Hyundai A-League competition and Neville can’t wait to be back.
“It’s been seven rounds and we’ve only played there [Suncorp Stadium] once, so for us to play in front of our home crowd on our home pitch will be great for us,” the defender said.
“We can hear the crowd, we love playing in front of them and we’re really looking forward to getting back to Suncorp [Stadium].”
The Roar will be keen to get on the front foot early on Saturday, something which Neville admits has been an issue.
“It’s been talked about and needs to be addressed – we need to start sharp and get on top of Central Coast early,” Neville added.
“It seems to be at the moment that we wait until we go a goal behind until we click into gear.
“We need to not only not concede the first goal but score the first goal because then we can play our type of football and really show the fans what we’re about.”
MATCH DETAILS
Hyundai A-League 2019/20 Round 8: Brisbane Roar v Central Coast Mariners
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Saturday, 30 November (4pm KO)
Brisbane Roar squad: 1.Max CROCOMBE (gk), 2.Scott NEVILLE, 4.Daniel BOWLES, 5.Tom ALDRED (c), 6.Macaulay GILLESPHEY, 7.Jai INGHAM, 8.Jacob PEPPER, 9.Roy O’DONOVAN, 10.Bradden INMAN, 12.Aiden O’NEILL, 13.Stefan MAUK, 14.George MELLS, 15.Aaron REARDON, 20.Aaron AMADI-HOLLOWAY, 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk), 22.Jake MCGING, 23.Dylan WENZEL-HALLS, 25.Rahmat AKBARI, 26.Jay O’SHEA, 28.Izaack POWELL, 29.Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS
**2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 14.George MELLS (promoted), 25.Rahmat AKBARI (promoted), 28.Izaack POWELL (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 19.Jack HINGERT (knee)
Central Coast Mariners Squad: 1.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 2.Ian Zygmunt GORDON, 3.Jack CLISBY, 4.Eunsun KIM, 6.Giancarlo GALLIFUOCO, 7.Milan ÐURIĆ, 8.Mikey MCGLINCHEY, 9.Jordan MURRAY, 10.Thomas OAR, 11.Daniel DESILVA, 12.Adam PEARCE (gk), 14.Abraham MAJOK, 15.Kye ROWLES, 16.Dylan FOX, 17.Samuel SILVERA, 18.Gianni STENSNESS, 19.Matthew SIMON, 21.Ruon TONGYIK, 26.Joshua NISBET, 27.Lewis MILLER
**2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 14.Abraham MAJOK (Promoted), 16.Dylan FOX (Promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 29.Jair BRITTO (Injury – Quad)
Referee: Kurt Ams
Assistant Referee 1: James Cleal
Assistant Referee 2: Brad Wright
Fourth Official: Katie Patterson
VAR: Alex King
