In preparation for a lengthy campaign which awaits the Hyundai A-League Champions, Brisbane Roar Head Coach Ange Postecoglou will field a youthful line-up in tomorrow afternoon’s match-up with Brisbane Premier League club University of Queensland.
In preparation for a lengthy campaign which awaits the Hyundai A-League Champions, Brisbane Roar Head Coach Ange Postecoglou will field a youthful line-up in tomorrow afternoon-s match-up with Brisbane Premier League club University of Queensland.
With 27 Hyundai A-League competition rounds and at least six AFC Champions League fixtures over the course of the season, Postecoglou admits he-ll rely heavily on the younger members of his squad and will give them tomorrow-s fixture as significant match practice before October 8 and a Grand Final rematch with the Central Coast Mariners at Suncorp Stadium approaches.
“It-s our last hit out and we-re very mindful that a lot of players haven-t played in the lead-up so we want to give them as much game time as possible,” the current Hyundai A-League Coach of the Year said.
“Also, we want to do a solid fitness session with the other guys, the main players in the squad, so it works out well that one half will have a solid training session and the other half will get 90 minutes.
“It will be good to see the young boys in action because we-re going to need them once the season starts.”
Postecoglou-s eleven will feature the likes of National Youth League goalkeeper Matthew Acton, the club-s three full-time youth players, Nick Fitzgerald, George Lambadaridis and Corey Brown while the more experienced James Meyer and Kofi Danning will head Brisbane-s attack.
Midfielders Luke Brattan and Chris Bush are also expected to start.
The Brisbane coach said he-d use the game to gauge where the younger players were in terms of understanding and implementing his unique playing style.
“Every game we-ve played has been challenging and we-ve sort of put our own conditions on each game,” Postecoglou said.
“For me, I ask them to play in a certain way and for the younger guys who play tomorrow, I want to see where they are in terms of understanding our game plan.
“That-s what we-ve used our pre-season for – defining our game plan – and it is important the young guys understand that.
“We expect a tough game from UQ but we-ll be concentrating on what our team does.”
Brisbane Roar play University of Queensland on Saturday 24 September. Kick off on Field 3 of the St Lucia Campus is at 3pm. Entry is free but a gold coin donation is encouraged as part of Brisbane Roar and 96five’s fundraiser for the Mohammadi family.
