Head Coach Robbie Fowler says his squad are backing their football to do the business in the first Hyundai A-League fixture of the New Year.
The Roar head south to Parramatta for a New Year’s Day date with Western Sydney Wanderers at Bankwest Stadium (6:30pm KO QLD time).
The trip will be the Roar’s second of the season to the venue, following a scoreless draw back in the opening rounds of the season.
Fowler’s side face a short turnaround from a 1-1 draw in Newcastle just three days ago, but are backing their play to earn the first three points of 2020.
“It’s a case of getting back on the park, doing what we believe in – keep playing the ball, moving it around and working the opposition – eventually it will come for us,” Fowler said.
“Football is all about momentum. This time of the year we’re prepared, games come thick and fast – we just have to adapt.”
The Roar dominated the previous meetings between the sides with only heroic goalkeeping from Daniel Lopar denying Fowler’s side on that occasion.
Despite the short turnaround between fixtures, Fowler says his side have prepared well for the Wanderers.
“We can frustrate a lot of teams, but it’s not about that, it’s about scoring goals & winning games,” Fowler continued.
“We have a belief in what we can do & how we play. We’ve done a lot of work on Western Sydney, as we have with every team. We’re going there with a plan.
“We’re going out there totally believing in what we can do.”
The Roar will be Burnley loanee Aiden O’Neill, with the young midfielder & defender Connor O’Toole both unavailable with international duty.
“It’s disappointing to lose Aiden, but one man’s loss can be another man’s gain – it’s up to them to stake their claim & earn their spot.”
MATCH DETAILS
Hyundai A-League 2019/20 – Round 13: Western Sydney Wanderers v Brisbane Roar
Bankwest Stadium, Parramatta
Wednesday, 1 January (6:30pm KO QLD time)
Western Sydney Wanderers FC squad: 1.Daniel LOPAR (gk), 4.Dylan McGOWAN, 5.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 6.Matthew JURMAN, 7.Mitchell DUKE (c), 8.Jordan O’DOHERTY, 9.Nicolai MULLER, 11.Bruce KAMAU, 14.Alexander MEIER, 21.Tarek ELRICH, 22.Nicholas SULLIVAN, 23.Kostandinos GROZOS, 27.Kwame YEBOAH, 31.Noah PAGDEN, 33.Tate RUSSELL, 34.Patrick ZIEGLER, 35.Mohamed ADAM, 40.Nicholas SUMAN (gk),53.Mohamed AL-TAAY, 59.Dean PELEKANOS **2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 8.Jordan O’DOHERTY (return from injury), 11.Bruce KAMAU (promoted), 27.Kwame YEBOAH (promoted), 31.Noah PAGDEN (promoted),53.Mohamed AL-TAAY (promoted), 59.Dean PELEKANOS (promoted)
Outs: 13.Tass MOURDOUKOUTAS (international duty), 17.Keanu Baccus (international duty), 19.Pirmin SCHWEGLER (suspended – 1 week)
Unavailable: 10.Radoslaw MAJEWSKI (knee), 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC (shoulder)
Brisbane Roar FC 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, 13.Stefan MAUK, 15.Aaron REARDON, 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, 28.Izaack POWELL, 30.Mirza MURATOVIC **2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 7.Jai INGHAM (promoted), 15.Aaron REARDON (promoted), 22.Jake MCGING (promoted), 25.Rahmat AKBARI (promoted)
Outs: 12.Aiden O’NEILL (international duty)
Unavailable: 24.Connor O’TOOLE (international duty), 29.Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS (knee – TBC)
Referee: Alex King
Assistant Referee 1: Andrej Giev
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Powers
Fourth Official: Kurt Ams
VAR: Kris Griffiths-Jones
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 7:00pm (AEDT), Sky Sport 7 (New Zealand), Kayo Sports (www.kayosports.com.au) and MyFootball Live App, Live Fast and Data Free for Telstra mobile customers
Radio Broadcast: myfootballnation.com (SWR 999)
