Brisbane are hoping that the second-round bye may work to their advantage, with key front-man Reinaldo looking increasingly likely to be available for the Roar’s first home game of the season against Sydney FC in Round 3.
Sidelined with a hamstring complaint, Reinaldo missed the Roar’s impressive Hyundai A-League 2010/11 season opener against Gold Coast United, which ended 0-0, but the big Brazilian is thought to be on target to make his return against last year’s champions.
Brisbane dominated the early going and had plenty of opportunities against the Gold Coast, giving cause for Roar skipper Matt McKay to suggest his side deserved to take home the three competition points.
“Gold Coast are a good side, they’ve got a very good roster, and obviously we had an awful record against them last year, so to go out there and really prove ourselves and possibly deserve the victory as well was good signs.” said McKay.
A non-entity in 2009/10, through aggressive recruiting the Roar appear to have rebuilt themselves as a threat in this season’s competition, but while on-field improvement is drawing attention, there remains a need to fine-tune goal-front execution.
Reinaldo’s return will go some way to strengthening the Roar’s offensive stocks, but McKay says the onus will not fall on the front-men alone, and that the Brisbane midfield – himself included – will need to consistently put pressure on goal.
“I should have scored a winner against the Gold Coast,” he said.
“This season we need the midfielders scoring goals and I’m part of that.”
While Brisbane couldn’t find the net in their first outing, their next opponents Sydney FC had no such problem, slotting three against Melbourne Victory on the weekend along the way to a hard-fought draw.
As perennial contenders and defending champions, Sydney will have the Roar’s full attention over the next two weeks, and after rating their match against Melbourne as the best viewing of the first round, McKay will again be in scout-mode when the Sky Blues travel north to take on the Fury this weekend.
“We had a good start, but we get a good chance to have a look at Sydney this weekend and then prepare for them next week,” he said.
“(Sydney v Melbourne) was a great game. Apart from ours, it was probably the one that I enjoyed watching the most.”
