Your Brisbane Roar returns home tomorrow for the first time in 2020 eyeing back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
The two sides last met back in Round 6 with a Roy O’Donovan hat-trick spurring the Roar to a spectacular come-from-behind victory in Redcliffe.
TICKETS: Our first home game of 2020
Speaking on Friday morning, Midfielder Jacob Pepper is confident that the Roar can make it two from two against City with his side having learnt plenty of lessons from their last meeting.
MUST READ: Matchday guide – Roar v City
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“They’re very hot and cold. We played them in Round 6 and did a job on them, so hopefully we can do another job on them again,” Pepper said.
“We know we can. We scored four goals against them so hopefully the goals aren’t lacking tomorrow night.
“Structurally, we’ve got to be a lot better. We conceded three, we can’t concede three against them again. It just makes our job a lot tougher.”
Pepper also highlighted former Roar player Jamie Maclaren as the danger man for the Citizens, with the striker netting twelve goals this season including a double last weekend against Western United.
“Jamie is a good player and he scores goal. He loves to run in behind the defence so the three centre backs have to be weary of that,” Pepper continued.
“As long as we track our runners, keep it nice and tight from the forward to the defensive line, we’ll be right and Jamie will have a quiet night.
“We’ve worked on that at training, blocking the lines, especially to the forwards feet and that second runner, now we’ve got to implement it tomorrow.”
Saturday’s match will be Brisbane’s first match since their New Year’s Day victory over Western Sydney ten days ago.
Head Coach Robbie Fowler is wary of the long break, but feels that the Roar are more than prepared for the competitions second-placed side.
“I’ve said before, I’m not a big fan of the byes because it does stop momentum, it does stop you playing the way you want to play,” Fowler said.
“I know there’s probably an adage where you can say ‘well you can do more work at the training pitch’, but players want to play games. They want to play the intensity of a real match.
“We haven’t had a bye as such – we’ve obviously had the ten-days off because of the Christmas period. The two-games over the four-days was tough on the lads, it was probably something that they’re not really used to. But we adapted well, gave them a little bit of a rest afterwards.
“We’ll prepare for this game we would any other game. We’ve trained properly, we’ve had the right resource in terms of days off and the right training intensity sessions.”
MATCH DETAILS
Hyundai A-League 2019/20: Round 14 – Brisbane Roar v Melbourne City
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Saturday, 11 January (4:00pm KO QLD time)
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Brisbane Roar FC squad: 1.Max CROCOMBE (gk), 2.Scott NEVILLE, 4.Daniel BOWLES, 5.Tom ALDRED (c), 6.Macaulay GILLESPHEY, 8.Jacob PEPPER, 9.Roy O’DONOVAN, 10.Bradden INMAN, 13.Stefan MAUK, 14.George MELLS, 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: 14.George MELLS (promoted), 15.Aaron REARDON (promoted), 25.Rahmat AKBARI (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 12.Aiden O’NEILL (international duty), 24.Connor O’TOOLE (international duty), 29.Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS (knee – TBC)
Melbourne City FC squad: 2.Scott GALLOWAY, 3.Scott JAMIESON (c), 6.Josh BRILLANTE, 7.Rostyn GRIFFITHS, 8.Javier CABRERA, 9.Jamie MACLAREN, 10.Florin BERENGUER 11.Craig NOONE, 13.Nathaniel ATKINSON, 19.Lachlan WALES, 20.Adrian LUNA, 22.Curtis GOOD, 23.Dean BOUZANIS (gk), 30.Moudi NAJJAR, 36.Kerrin STOKES, 38.Yaya DUKULY 35.Raphael BORGES RODRIGUES, 40.Richard WINDBICHLER, 46.Joe GAUCI (gk), 49.Stefan COLAKOVSKI **2-3 to be omitted**
Ins: 35.Raphael BORGES RODRIGUES (promoted), 36.Kerrin STOKES (promoted), 38.Yaya DUKULY (promoted)
Outs: 4.Harrison DELBRIDGE (suspended)
Unavailable: 1.Tom GLOVER (gk) (international duty),17.Denis GENREAU (international duty), 21.Ramy NAJJARINE (international duty), 34.Connor METCALFE (international duty)
Referee: Daniel Elder
Assistant Referee 1: Nathan MacDonald
Assistant Referee 2: David Walsh
Fourth Official: Tim Danaskos
VAR: Craig Zetter
