Brisbane Roar Women have hit their stride in the Westfield W League competition, taking over the top of the table position as they prepare to face a winless Adelaide United outfit tonight at Hindmarsh Stadium.
Reaching the halfway mark in the competition, the Roar have not conceded defeat since the opening round against Sydney FC while bottom of the ladder Adelaide United are yet to see any points on the board, having only scored one goal in this season-s campaign.
Brisbane Roar Women coach Jeff Hopkins is not letting the team walk onto the field overly confident as he knows what United are capable of with three ex-Roar players now donning the red jersey.
“They-ve been struggling this year but because they have three Brisbane girls playing for them I see their games every week,” Hopkins said.
“We won-t be taking them lightly – they actually produce some good football going forward.
“It is normally late on in the game, after producing some good football, that they fade away.”
This week in training Hopkins shifted the focus from the opposition back to their own game, expecting improvement week in, week out regardless of ladder position.
“We are looking to improve every week, so there are small parts of our game that we look at, take what we did last week and see how we can improve it and that is how we are looking at our whole season,” he said.
“There-s plenty of room for improvement.
“We will be looking at some areas that we would like to exploit [Adelaide United], but mainly concentrating on improvement in certain areas of our game.
“We need to win this week, just to keep the pressure on Sydney FC and Canberra United.”
Not settled on complacency sitting at the top of the ladder, Hopkins and the Roar outfit are gearing up for the run home in the Westfield W League season with teamwork an essential ingredient in their success.
“The players realise now that we have to keep moving forward with all parts of our game,” he said.
“They are working well as a unit now, as a team. It makes a really big difference.
“You can-t underestimate how having players working together for a long period of time can affect or disaffect you if you are not getting that [unity].”
The clash between Brisbane Roar Women and Adelaide United Women will be held on Friday at Hindmarsh Stadium with kick-off at 4:45pm. The curtain raiser event will precede United-s Hyundai A-League fixture.
