Western United coach John Aloisi says he will push emotions to the side when he takes on his former club Brisbane Roar in Saturday night’s A-League Men clash at GMHBA Stadium.
Aloisi led the Roar to two semi-finals and an elimination final before resigning as coach following a poor start to the 2018-19 season.
The 45-year-old was appointed Western United coach in July, and his tenure has started on a positive note with two wins from his first three ALM games in charge.
Aloisi will confront the Roar for the first time since leaving Brisbane in December 2018, but he won’t let past emotions get the better of him.
“It’s three years now since I’ve been there,” Aloisi said.
“I’ve got good memories because of the success (we had) and what we achieved with very little budget.
“We were one point away from winning the Premiers Plate, we were a game away from getting into the grand final on two occasions. We made the finals series three years in a row.
“We have some good memories. But that’s all pushed aside when we play on Saturday night, because I want to win for Western United.
“I’m sure once they (Roar players) say hello to me, they’ll be focused on winning their game, but after the game we’ll have a bit of a chat.”
Aloisi confirmed Serbian striker Aleksandar Prijovic would miss yet again with a hamstring issue.
“He’s not too far off,” Aloisi said.
“It’s not a bad hamstring injury, but it’s one that you want to make sure you get right.
“There’s still a lot of football to be played and there’s still a lot of fitness for him to catch up on, so we want to make sure that he’s ready to go when he does come back.”
Slovenian midfielder Rene Krhin will also miss again due to a personal matter.
United are on a two-match ALM winning run after posting 1-0 triumphs over Perth Glory and Melbourne City.
In contrast, Brisbane sit last on the ladder after posting just a single point from their opening three games.
That point came in last week’s 0-0 draw with Adelaide United, and coach Warren Moon hopes it’s a performance that his team can build on.
“We showed great resilience and character to protect our goal,” Moon said.
“It’s not the start to the season we wanted. But moving forward, now we’ve got to build on it, and there’s no excuses.”
Moon said Jack Hingert (hamstring) had been ruled out and reserve goalkeeper Jordan Holmes will also miss after injuring himself in a gym mishap.
