Brisbane Roar will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing week against the Jets on Sunday afternoon at McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle.
Following the mid-week AFC Champions League defeat to Ulsan Hyundai, the Roar turn their attention back to the Hyundai A-League with an important three points on the line in Newcastle.
“It’s always a difficult challenge in Newcastle. We have arrived a few days early so we can acclimatise and get ready,” Captain Matt McKay said.
“After a disappointing game in the [AFC] Champions League hopefully we can bounce back and I believe this squad has the character to do that.
“We’ll have to defend well and stick to our game plan. We just have to play to the best of our ability and it will be a good challenge for us.”
The ledger is even between the two sides with 13 wins apiece and nine draws across 35 Hyundai A-League meetings.
The Jets have won the two previous fixtures this season but Brisbane will take confidence to McDonald Jones Stadium having won in nine of their 18 trips to the venue.
The Roar play three of their final five matches at Suncorp Stadium and will be looking to enter the Hyundai A-League Finals series with momentum.
Brisbane now sit in fifth position on the ladder, eight points clear of the seventh-placed Jets who are also in the midst of battling for a finals spot.
“A few wins or defeats can really either put you in a really good spot or a lot of danger at this time of the season,” McKay said.
“We need to try and string some results together and if we can, that will have us in good place come finals time.”
Match details
Newcastle Jets v Brisbane Roar, McDonald Jones Stadium, Sunday, 5 March, 6pm (QLD time)
Newcastle Jets squad: 2.Daniel MULLEN, 3.Jason HOFFMAN, 4.Nigel BOOGAARD (c), 5.Ben KANTAROVSKI, 6.Steven UGARKOVIC, 7.Andrew HOOLE, 8.Mateo POLJAK, 9.Aleksandr KOKKO, 10.Wayne BROWN, 15.Andrew NABBOUT, 16.Nicholas COWBURN, 18.MA Leilei, 19.Morten NORDSTRAND, 20.Jack DUNCAN (gk), 22.Lachlan JACKSON, 23.Devante CLUT, 28.John KOUTROUMBIS, 50.Tomislav ARČABA (gk) **two to be omitted**
Ins: 4.Nigel BOOGAARD (returns from suspension), 10.Wayne BROWN (returns from suspension), 18.MA Leilei (returns from suspension), 20.Jack DUNCAN (gk) (returns from injury)
Outs: 29.Joel ALLWRIGHT (omitted), 30.Pierce CLARK (gk) (omitted)
Unavailable: 1.Ben KENNEDY (gk) (achilles – season), 21.Daniel ALESSI (knee – season)
Brisbane Roar FC squad: 1.Michael THEO (gk), 5.Corey BROWN, 6.Avram PAPADOPOULOS, 7.Thomas KRISTENSEN, 9.Jamie MACLAREN, 10.Brett HOLMAN, 11.Tommy OAR, 13.Jade NORTH, 15.ARANA, 17.Matt MCKAY (c), 19.Jack HINGERT, 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk), 22.Thomas BROICH, 26.Nick D’AGOSTINO, 28.Brandon BORRELLO, 29.Joe CALETTI, 46.Cameron CRESTANI, 50.Dane INGHAM **two to be omitted**
Ins: 5.Corey BROWN (returns from injury), 6.Avram PAPADOPOULOS (promoted), 11.Tommy OAR (promoted), 15.ARANA (promoted), 26.Nick D’AGOSTINO (promoted), 50.Dane INGHAM (promoted)
Outs: 16.Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS (not selected), 20.Shannon BRADY (not selected), 25.Kye ROWLES (not selected), 33.Joey KATEBIAN (not selected)
Unavailable: 3.Luke DEVERE (calf – 3 weeks), 4.Daniel BOWLES (knee – season)
Referee: Jarred Gillett; Assistant Referee 1: Ryan Gallagher; Assistant Referee 2: James Cleal; Fourth Official: Shaun Evans
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on Fox Sports 505 from 6.45pm (AEDT)
