Brisbane Roar coach Ange Postecoglou is preparing to renew M1 hostilities after his squad recorded a 1-0 victory over Newcastle Jets in the club’s final pre-season friendly in Port Macquarie, NSW.
Brisbane headed south to the Port Macquarie Regional Sports Stadium as one of the club-s most technical and in-depth pre-season-s came to a close.
Defending valiantly against a strong Jets line-up, Brisbane were forced onto the back foot as Newcastle jumped quickly from the blocks.
But the Roar players fought their way back into the match and when German playmaker Thomas Broich was tripped inside the area, fullback Ivan Franjic stepped up to the spot to secure a late victory.
Postecoglou said he was happy with his team-s performance but downplayed the significance of the victory ahead of the Hyundai A-League 2010/11 season opener at Skilled Park.
“It-s always good to win but most importantly it shows the players are in good condition and ready to go,” Postecoglou said.
“It wasn-t an easy game because the Jets had a pretty strong team and played quite well which made it difficult for us at times.
“But the positive thing was that we defended well when we needed to and finished the game strongly.
“Now we-re just focussed on the first game (against Gold Coast United).”
Returning to action in late April, players and coaching staff have left no stone unturned as the club looks to reach the Hyundai A-League summit.
With the pre-season program now completed, Postecoglou and his coaching staff are preparing the squad for a titanic show-down on the glitter strip.
And with only two weeks left before the season opener, Postecoglou is making sure his best laid plans fall securely into place.
“We still have some work to do,” he said.
“We have a little fine tuning to do in certain areas … and we need to freshen up the players.
“We really want to hit the ground running this season.”
