Midfielder Aiden O’Neill is in contention for his first Hyundai A-League appearance after returning during the week from a successful international spell.
The 21-year-old represented Australia at the AFC Under-23 Championship, which saw the Olyroos qualify for the Olympics for the first time since 2008.
O’Neill was visibly proud of what his team had achieved, labelling the tournament a success with the Olyroos achieving exactly what they wanted to while in Thailand.
“It was a successful tournament. We qualified for the Olympics and that was our aim. We all really enjoyed ourselves and we went there and did what we wanted,” O’Neill said.
“We’ve all got to come back to our clubs and perform well and put ourselves up for grabs to be in that 18-man squad.”
The Queenslander can’t wait to return to the park in Australia having not featured since the Roar’s Round 12 draw against the Jets.
Robbie Fowler’s side has a hit a purple patch of form since then, going without defeat in 2020 so far.
“Since we played that Newcastle game, our performances have just been growing and growing and picking up a lot of points,” O’Neill continued.
“It doesn’t change now that we’re playing Sydney [FC]. We just keep it the same and keep performing.
“Everyone knows a winning team is a lot better to be in.”
O’Neill says that lessons have been learnt since their disappointing last outing against the Sky Blues late last year.
The 21-year-old is confident that the Roar can continue their rich run of form against the ladder leaders on Friday night.
“The lessons are that we’ve just got to go out there and play well,” he added.
“They just took their chances against us last time and we’ve been working really hard to make sure that we go out there and put in another good performance, and come back here with another three points.
“They [Sydney FC] had the bye last week and the boys won against the Central Coast and got another three points. It’s definitely a good time to go down and play them.
“Everyone’s buzzing and everyone’s excited to play them.”
MATCH DETAILS
Hyundai A-League 2019/20 – Round 17: Sydney FC v Brisbane Roar FC
Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, Sydney
Friday, 31 January (7:30pm local, 6:30pm QLD)
Sydney FC squad: 1.Andrew REDMAYNE (gk), 2.Patrick FLOTTMANN, 4.Alex WILKINSON (c), 6.Ryan McGOWAN, 8. Paulo RETRE, 9. Adam LE FONDRE, 10. Milos NINKOVIC, 11. Kosta BARBAROUSES, 12.Trent BUHAGIAR, 16.Joel KING, 17.Anthony CACERES, 18.Luke IVANOVIC, 20. Thomas HEWARD-BELLE, 21.Harry VAN DER SAAG, 23.Rhyan GRANT, 24.Marco TILIO, 26.Luke BRATTAN, 27.Jordi SWIBEL, 28.Calem NIEUWENHOF, 29. Anton MLINARIC **2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 12.Trent BUHAGIAR (return from international duty), 20. Thomas HEWARD-BELLE (gk) (return from injury), 24.Marco TILIO (promoted), 27.Jordi SWIBEL (promoted), 28.Calem NIEUWENHOF (promoted), 29. Anton MLINARIC (promoted)
Outs: 5.Alex BAUMJOHANN (suspended – 2 matches), 30.Adam PAVLESIC (gk) (return to NYL squad)
Unavailable: 3.Ben WARLAND (ACL), 7. Michael ZULLO (calf), 19.Chris ZUVELA (knee)
Brisbane Roar FC squad: 1.Max CROCOMBE (gk), 2.Scott NEVILLE, 3.Corey BROWN, 4.Daniel BOWLES, 5.Tom ALDRED (c), 6.Macaulay GILLESPHEY, 8.Jacob PEPPER, 10.Bradden INMAN, 12.Aiden O’NEILL, 19.Jack HINGERT, 20.Aaron AMADI-HOLLOWAY, 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk), 22.Jake MCGING, 23.Dylan WENZEL-HALLS, 25.Rahmat AKBARI, 26.Jay O’SHEA, 27.Kai TREWIN, 28.Izaack POWELL, 30.Mirza MURATOVIC, 77.Scott MCDONALD **2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 12.Aiden O’NEILL (returns from international duty), 27.Kai TREWIN ( promoted), 28.Izaack POWELL (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 29.Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS (knee – TBC)
Assistant Referee 1: Anton Shchetinin
Assistant Referee 2: Matthew McOrist
Fourth Official: Kurt Ams
VAR: Kris Griffiths-Jones
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 7:00pm (AEDT) and Sky Sport 7 (New Zealand), Kayo Sports (www.kayosports.com.au) and MyFootball Live App, Live Fast and Data Free for Telstra mobile customers
