After a 4-2 win over Perth Glory gave his side a shot at a top-two finish, Queensland Roar coach Frank Farina immediately shifted his attention to the upcoming A-League finals series.
And while Farina stated he could be happier with the outlook, having missed out on the Premiers Plate to Melbourne Victory, the former Socceroos coach was confident his side could be a force at the pointy end of the season, declaring the Roar the form team of the competition.
“Our last number of games here we have come home strong and not let too many things affect our mental or physical attitude,” Farina said.
“When you’ve got the pace that we have and big Sergio (van Dijk), who is in fantastic form at the moment, it’s going to be a problem for any team.”
“As long as we can maintain that over the next month or so, we are going to have a good shot.”
The Roar now face an anxious wait on Sunday to see if Adelaide United will be able to take the full points away from Central Coast, a result that would see the Reds reclaim second spot on the ladder.
Hurting the Roar’s hopes of an even-affair is the fact that the match is a dead rubber for the Mariners, who are unable to shift from fourth on the table, paving the way for media speculation that Central Coast coach Lawrie McKinna will rest star players.
Farina accepted it was a frustrating situation.
“They most probably will (rest players) and we most probably would if we knew we couldn’t improve on our position,” he said.
“I’m happy that at least there is a bit of pressure on Adelaide.”
“I’d like to be sitting top of the league, but look we’re in the two, we’ve done everything that we can, we won by two goals but it’s out of our hands now.”
Farina’s opposite number Dave Mitchell also talked up the Roar’s title hopes after the Glory went down swinging in the match on Saturday night.
“I think they’re just peaking now, Charlie Miller is back in the fold, he’s missed a few games, but they’re going full steam ahead and they’re doing really well,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell was left to lament a season where ‘the first half was shocking’.
“The second half was tremendous,” he said.
“Once we got our act together we played some attractive football, some really good stuff.”
“The good thing is I think we got the credit for it, a lot of people were saying how well we were playing, but it was too late unfortunately.”
