Right-back Jack Hingert believes having a settled back-four has been a major reason behind Brisbane Roar’s incredible run of form in the Hyundai A-League.
Roar extended their unbeaten run to nine games on Sunday after a gritty 2-1 win over Central Coast Mariners in Gosford.
Roar into third after edging Central Coast
The result – courtesy of goals in each half to Dimitri Petratos and Jamie Maclaren – has moved Roar up into a share of second spot and only behind Melbourne Victory on goal difference.
And Hingert feels the side’s defence has been the catalyst for their hot streak, with Roar conceding just 11 times from 11 matches this season.
“We’ve just got a great bunch of boys and the back four, we’ve obviously been together now for a while,” Hingert told Fox Sports.
“We’ve had a long pre-season together and we’ve been working together throughout the season.
“We haven’t really had to miss many players in terms of injuries or suspensions so the back-four been pretty much the same throughout the whole season and we’ve just gelled. Hopefully we can continue that.
“It was an extremely important win for us,” Hingert added.
“Central Coast play some good football and are a good team and they have a lot of threat it was definitely hard for us. But credit to the boys, we dug in deep and we got the result.”
Hingert was one of Roar’s best against the Mariners, shackling the dangerous Connor Pain for the entire match.
The 26-year-old was also unlucky not to get on the scoresheet himself down the other end, hitting the post with a curling, left-footed strike in the first half.
Only an excellent stop from Mariners gloveman Paul Izzo denied him in the second half as well from a powerful effort from distance.
“It’s something I want to work on a bit more. I love attacking and I want to try and get forward as much as I can,” Hingert admitted.
“I’m not known for my scoring capabilities but I’m sure I’m going to get a few calls, especially from my dad when I get home asking me why I didn’t score. Hopefully next game I can put one away.”
And that next match for Roar comes on Friday night as they return home to Suncorp Stadium for a clash with Western Sydney Wanderers.
