Brisbane Roar interim coach Frans Thijssen lamented his team’s poor first half performance in their 2-1 defeat to Melbourne Victory on Wednesday night.
MATCH REPORT: Brisbane Roar v Melbourne Victory
The hosts trailed 2-0 at the break after conceding a quickfire double and were unable to build on Matt McKay’s goal shortly after the restart.
“I was not happy with the first half,” Thijssen said.
“In the second half they reacted well and played a lot better.
“When you’re 2-0 down and you score a goal you’re back in the game, but we couldn’t really finish it off and get something out of it. That’s disappointing.
“We had problems in the first half and I think a lot of players didn’t reach their normal standards.”
Roar’s cause was not helped by the pre-match withdrawal of young winger Brandon Borrello while defender Luke DeVere limped off late after a knock to the leg.
The Brisbane boss hopes Borrello will be fit for a second crack at Kevin Muscat’s side on Saturday night, though DeVere’s fate is less clear.
“I think so, yeah. I think he needs a couple more days because he got a knock in the last game,” Thijssen said when asked if Borrello is likely to return on the weekend.
“He was nearly there but he was not 100 per cent so we left him out.”
