Brisbane Roar goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos said his team will be looking for further improvement their overall performance tomorrow night against Melbourne Victory, despite the staggering 7-1 win over Adelaide United last time out.
Brisbane Roar goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos said his team will be looking to further improve their overall performance tomorrow night against Melbourne Victory, despite the staggering 7-1 win over Adelaide United last time out.
This afternoon the Roar squad will fly out of Brisbane Airport and will land in Melbourne, Theoklitos- hometown, and the city where they experienced their last loss in the Hyundai A-League- a 3-0 defeat at the hands of this weekend-s opponents more than 12 months ago.
Since that result, Brisbane have embarked on a 32-match unbeaten run, which included scooping last season-s Hyundai A-League Premiership and Championship double. Much of the hype this week has been about whether the Victory can bring the much-publicised streak to an end.
While last Friday night-s win, the biggest in club history, was still fresh in the memories of the Roar players, Theoklitos dismissed claims of complacency within the camp leading into the Saturday night blockbuster.
“Not with this team,” Theoklitos said.
“Obviously we-ve been on this great unbeaten run but we are not getting complacent, we want to improve.
“Certain things when we went over the video from last week we still weren-t happy about.
“Every week we go out there and Ange tells us to improve that little bit.
“It-s all about our performance so tomorrow we want to make sure we rock up ready to go, and we-re under no illusion – they are going to throw everything at us.”
Head Coach Ange Postecoglou agreed with his first choice gloveman, saying the celebrations were low key and focus was quick to switch to the Victory fixture.
“If you-d come into the dressing rooms after the game, you wouldn-t have known we won 7-1,” Postecoglou said.
“It was a great night but after the final whistle, I could already tell the players were switched on.
“It hasn-t been an issue, what it does do is give the players and everyone involved confidence that we-re in good form.”
Brisbane will need to continue their blistering run of results this season if they want to edge out the Melbourne side tomorrow night with at least 30,000 expected to be in attendance at Etihad Stadium.
“It-s going to be a massive challenge for us, especially in front of a big Melbourne crowd,” Theoklitos said.
“It-s a great opportunity for us to see where we-re at in terms of playing another high quality opposition with the likes of Harry (Kewell), Archie (Thompson), you could go through the whole team really.”
The match has added significance for Theoklitos, who spent four years with Melbourne Victory starting from the inception of the Hyundai A-League with two Championships, two Premierships and two Goalkeeper of the Year awards to show for his time at the club.
“I have fond memories from my time there and it-s always special when you play your old club,” he said.
“I left on good terms so I-m looking forward to going there and playing in front of that crowd again.”
Saturday, 5 November 2011
Melbourne Victory vs. Brisbane Roar
Etihad Stadium, Melbourne
Local Kick Off: 7:45pm
Referee: Ben Williams
TV Broadcast: Fox Sports 1
Radio broadcaster: 774 ABC Melbourne / 1116 SEN Melbourne / 88.6 Plenty Valley FM Melbourne
Head-to-Head: All matches (played 18): Melbourne Victory wins 10, Brisbane Roar wins 5 (3 draws)
Melbourne Victory: 2. Matthew Foschini, 3. Fabio, 6. Leigh Broxham, 7. Matthew Kemp, 9. Jean Carlos Solorzano, 10. Archie Thompson, 11. Marco Rojas, 12. Rodrigo Vargas, 13. Diogo Ferreira, 14. Billy Celeski, 15. Tom Pondeljak, 16.Carlos Hernandez, 18. Danny Allsopp, 20. Lawrence Thomas (gk), 21. Ante Covic (gk), 22. Harry Kewell, 23. Adrian Leijer (c) *two to be omitted*
In: 7. Matthew KEMP (promoted), 13. Diogo FERREIRA (promoted)
Out: 8. Grant BREBNER (calf), 19. Isaka Cernak (omitted)
Unavailable: Tando Velaphi (stress fracture)
Brisbane Roar: 1. Michael Theoklitos (gk), 2. Matt Smith (c), 3. Shane Stefanutto, 4. Matt Jurman, 5. Ivan Franjic, 6. Erik Paaratlu, 7. Besart Berisha, 8. Massimo Murdocca, 9. Kofi Danning, 10. Henrique, 11. Issey Nakajima-Farran, 16. Mohamed Adnan, 17. Mitch Nichols, 18. Luke Brattan, 20. Andrew Redmayne, 21. James Meyer, 22. Thomas Broich
*two to be omitted*
In: James Meyer (Promoted), Luke Brattan (Promoted), Andrew Redmayne (Returns From Injury)
Out: 30. Matt Acton (Short Term Cover Expired)
Unavailable: 12. Matt Mundy (Knee Injury – 1 Week)
