North Queensland midfielder James Robinson says spirits are higher than ever in the Fury squad despite remaining winless ahead of their Round 5 Hyundai A-League encounter with the Brisbane Roar at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
The fledgling club has struggled to find cohesion early in its first ever Hyundai A-League campaign, but there are now signs things are beginning to click and confidence is rising inside the camp.
“We don’t fear anybody,” Robinson said.
“We feel anybody can knock anybody off in this league, it just shows you last week with the Jets taking down the Gold Coast.”
“As anybody knows, you start playing good football and you start enjoying it a lot more. We’re getting to know each other better and it’s showing on the park and that cohesion’s coming in more and more … I think that’s all the hard work paying off.”
The 26-year-old Englishman has worked his way into his coach Ian Ferguson’s favour in recent weeks after struggling with injury in the pre-season and being initially overlooked.
“It’s good to be back in the team,” Robinson admitted.
“I’ve been out for a while, so to be back in the fold and getting a few games under my belt is always good.”
He produced a perfectly weighted ball to set up Robbie Fowler in the box for last round’s goal-of-the-week and came close to scoring twice himself during the club’s 3-3 draw with Adelaide United.
“If you put the ball in the box for Robbie (Fowler) he’s going to finish it, he’s a great player and as long as you get the ball in there he’s going to finish goals like that any day of the week,” said Robinson.
North Queensland clashed with the Roar twice during the pre-season.
Brisbane ran amok in the first, producing a 4-0 victory. But the Fury regained some respect in the second outing with a Roar own-goal in the final minutes handing them a 1-0 win.
Though neither result will matter much come game-time.
“It’s always nice to win, don’t get me wrong,” Robinson said.
“But pre-season’s about fitness, getting your match fitness up. Once that first game of the season kicks-off it’s a different story.”
“You’re playing for three points and everything’s on the line, so it’ll be a much more intense game.”
