Queensland Roar coach Frank Farina believes his side is in better shape now than it was at the same time in 2007-08.
Last season the Roar needed to beat Adelaide United in Round 21 to win the premiership. The then frontrunners lost the game and eventually missed out on playing in the Hyundai A-League grand final.
Fast forward 12 months and Queensland has less of a chance of reaching the top of the ladder. It trails the Reds by four points and Melbourne Victory by two with two games to play.
But Farina believes the team’s schedule this year will give them every opportunity to enter the finals with momentum.
“We don’t have to travel. We’ve had the last three games away from home so to have the last two is a big difference,” Farina said.
“I would’ve loved to have got Adelaide at home in the last game to win the premiership, I think we would’ve got 40-45,000 for that game.”
“If we can win both of our games at Suncorp we’ll have a real good chance of hopefully making the two.”
“Hopefully that’s going to be a big advantage for us but in saying that you’ve got the games, you’ve still got to win them.”
The former Socceroos coach also believes last season’s disappointing final series will provide his players with greater resolve this time around.
“They lived this similar situation last season, where we had to come here to win the minor premiership and unfortunately we didn’t,” he said.
“But that experience I think has been invaluable for particularly the younger players, even the senior ones that hadn’t been involved in finals football for a long time.”
