Brisbane Roar coach Ange Postecoglou has praised the ‘never say die’ attitude of his team after they salvaged a 1-1 draw against the Jets in a physical encounter in Newcastle on Wednesday night.
Brisbane were forced to defend for most of the match before rallying to come from behind and grab a 80th-minute equaliser via substitute Jean Carlos Solorzano to extend their unbeaten run to 11 games.
“I thought it was a fantastic effort the boys put in,” Postecoglou said.
“We could have easily layed down if we wanted to but once again it was fantastic spirit shown and I am really proud of them tonight.”
“I am very happy with the way they worked. I couldn’t be prouder of them to be honest.”
Postecoglou admitted his side was under pressure throughout the match that saw the Jets have 19 shots on goal compared to the Roar’s eight but was impressed by the way his side dug deep in the face of adversity.
“We made a couple of good saves but I thought a couple good chances as well,” he said.
“We had to defend at times which we knew we would have to and it was a pretty physical game and obviously we couldn’t get our rhythm going in terms of the style of the game which we kind of half expected coming here so from that point of view we had to battle.”
“But I think when we needed it we did it.”
The Roar coach indicated it had been a tough month for Brisbane with a number of midweek games and a couple of tough games on the road as well as a loss of some players including inspirational skipper Matt McKay to the representative duties but he was encouraged the entire attitude of his squad.
“If we had of lay down tonight I would have said yes, but we didn’t,” he said.
“The last 10 minutes was very encouraging – there was nothing in our mind other than trying to get a result a win or a draw. Yes it has been a tough road but that is it, that is all we have got.”
“Our substitutes made an impact which was good and as I said there is a real good spirit in the squad.”
“They are working hard and they can see that is progressing them as a group and individually and they are thriving on it. As a coach that is what you want.”
“We didn’t play our normal game tonight but watching it especially over that last 10 to 15 minutes if the boys said it was too hard no-one would have said anything but that is just not in them at the moment which is great.”
“I have great admiration for this team’s spirit. As a coach you are looking for certain outcomes in terms of performance and they way we play but I just love the spirit they have got at the moment. They are going for it every game and it is great to see.”
