North Queensland Fury will look to build on their 1 – 0 win against Sydney FC when they take on ladder leaders the Brisbane Roar this Saturday at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
Moving off the bottom of the ladder, North Queensland will be looking secure another three points to increase their chance of making the finals.
This will be a tough task with the Roar undefeated in their last 16 games but North Queensland have proved their worth with a 1 all draw against the Roar late last month.
North Queensland Coach Franz Straka said Osama Malik was in doubt for the clash after suffering a hamstring injury during the second half of their clash against Sydney FC.
“He has a problem with his hamstring and I don-t think he will play next game,” Straka said.
Straka acknowledged how difficult the clash will be and what they needed to beat the A – League ladder leaders.
“This next game is big for us. It is going to be difficult to back up 48 hours later. It-s not enough but I hope we will do the best,” he said.
“The team from Brisbane is so strong. If we want to beat them we have to be 100 percent fit and we may need a little bit of luck.”
Fury Captain Ufuk Talay said their win against Sydney FC has taken some pressure off his team going into their clash with the Roar.
“It will take a bit of pressure off the boys coming off a win. It-s going to be a tough game against Brisbane but hopefully we will get the three points out of that as well,”
Despite the win Talay said it would mean little if they did not back up their performance with another win.
“We have to build on it. Obviously we can-t be happy with just having three points. We have a lot of games coming up and we still believe we can make the top six so every point counts for us,” he said.
The Roar are also coming off a 1-0 win against Sydney FC and will be looking to continue their unbeaten streak.