Brisbane Roar coach John Aloisi insists he hasn’t received any offers for star striker Jamie Maclaren.
Maclaren is off contract at the end of the season and the Caltex Socceroo has been linked with a move away from the club in the January transfer window.
One overseas website has claimed that EPL club Stoke City are looking at the striker though that was dismissed by Aloisi in the lead up to tonight’s game against Sydney FC.Â
“We haven’t had any offers at all for Jamie Maclaren, or any other players,” Aloisi told reporters on Thursday.
“We know that with Jamie Maclaren everyone is going to be talking about him, there’s always speculation. There’s no offer.”
The Roar are preparing to take on league leaders Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium in a blockbuster clash to open Round 13 tonight.
PREVIEW: Sydney FC v Brisbane Roar
After ending the Sky Blues’ run of wins to start the season following a 1-1 draw in Round 7 Aloisi now has his eyes set on inflicting a first defeat of the campaign on their opponents.
“We’re looking forward to the challenge, it’s a big game for us. We’re ready, confident and we’re going down there to win,” said Aloisi.
“We stopped their winning streak and now we believe we can stop their unbeaten run.”
Brisbane will go into the clash on a 10-match unbeaten run of their own and have not lost to the Sky Blues in their last four encounters.
Humid conditions are forecast for Allianz Stadium despite the evening kick-off time but Aloisi is confident his side has the game plan to withstand the heat.
“We feel that we’ve been getting better every game,” said Aloisi.
“We didn’t have a great first half when we played them a few weeks ago but when we tweaked things we ran all over them in the second half, and they’ll remember that.
“We know that if they press us we’ll be able to outplay them, as we will if they sit off us.”
