All the talk in the lead-up may be about his former boss but Brisbane Roar Head Coach Rado Vidosic is concerned about his task at hand – guiding his team to their first win of the season in tomorrow night’s match against Melbourne Victory.
All the talk in the lead-up may be about his former boss but Brisbane Roar Head Coach Rado Vidosic is concerned about his task at hand – guiding his team to their first win of the season in tomorrow night-s match against Melbourne Victory.
After travelling west for their season opener, the Roar will host the Victory – coached by Ange Postecoglou – in their first home game of the 2012/13 campaign, sights firmly set on three points after succumbing to a late Perth Glory goal on Sunday.
Playing at home in round two has allowed the buzz around the already highly-anticipated fixture to build but Vidosic maintains his players are single-mindedly focused on the tough 90 minutes ahead of them.
“Every first home game of the season is a big one,” he said.
“On top of that, we have one of the better clubs coming to Brisbane, Melbourne Victory and then, on top of that, we have our former coach coming so of course it builds up.
“We just have to concentrate on what we can control and what we-re going to do tomorrow.
“It-s not just my old boss – it-s a win for the club, it-s a win for the players and the confidence grows.
“We can then use that as a good platform for the rest of the season.”
With the Victory also coming off a round one loss, a 2-1 derby defeat against Melbourne Heart and will be without Mark Milligan, Marco Rojas and Archie Thompson who are all away on international duty.
Vidosic is convinced his players are still in for a busy night on the Suncorp Stadium pitch and will be banking on the Roar-s trademark passing efficiency to set the base for an impressive performance.
“Flores, Finkler, Allsopp, they-ve got quite a few dangerous players even Leijer when he goes forward for set pieces,” he said.
“We need to be on top of our game and try and dominate the play and defend as well as possible.
“We need to be as aggressive as possible because they-re going to be they-re going to be aggressive against us.
“I think the team that makes the less mistakes will probably win and I think the team that turns the ball over more often will end up allowing their opponents to create more chances.
“At the end of the day, that may be the crucial point.”
Ivan Franjic is set to return for Brisbane after a week-long absence with a groin strain while Brazilian winger Henrique is still sidelined with injury.
Brisbane Roar host Melbourne Victory on Saturday, 13 October at Suncorp Stadium. Kick off is at 6.45pm, gates open at 5.45pm. Tickets available from Ticketek.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Brisbane Roar v Melbourne Victory
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Kick off: 6.45pm AEST 7.45pm
Referee: Strebre Delovski
Live and exclusive broadcast on FOX Sports 1HD and Sky Sport 3.
Radio broadcast: ABC Grandstand Digital VIC, SA & WA 1930-2200 AEDT
Brisbane Roar squad: 1. Michael Theo (GK), 2. Matt Smith (capt.), 3. Shane Stefanutto, 4. Matt Jurman, 5. Ivan Franjic, 6. Erik Paartalu, 7. Besart Berisha, 8. Massimo Murdocca, 11. Ben Halloran, 13. Yuji Takahashi, 16. Do Dong-Hyun, 14. Rocky Visconte, 17. Mitch Nichols, 18. Luke Brattan, 19. Jack Hingert, 20. Matt Acton (GK), 22. Thomas Broich, 24. Nick Fitzgerald. *three to be omitted*
Ins: Ivan Franjic
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: James Meyer (groin – one week), Henrique (heel – one week)
Melbourne Victory squad: 1. Tando VELAPHI (GK), 2. Matthew FOSCHINI, 3. Adama TRAORE, 4. Petar FRANJIC, 6. Leigh BROXHAM, 7. Gui FINKLER, 8. Jonathan BRU, 9. Marcos FLORES, 13. Diogo FERREIRA, 14. Billy CELESKI, 15. Sam GALLAGHER, 16. Theo MARKELIS, 17. Jimmy JEGGO, 18. Daniel ALLSOPP, 20. Lawrence THOMAS (GK), 21. Spase DILEVSKI, 23. Adrian LEIJER (c)
Ins: Sam Gallagher (Central Coast Mariners), Spase Dilevski (Adelaide United). Petar Franjic, Billy Celeski, Diogo Ferriera (all promoted)
Out: Archie Thompson, Mark Milligan, Marco Rojas (all on national team duty)
