Queensland midfielder Massimo Murdocca is playing down talk that the Roar is the form team heading into the Hyundai A-League finals.
The Roar picked up 10 points from their final five matches and has only lost once – to premiers Melbourne – since early November.
This is in stark contrast to their semi-final opponents – the Mariners – who will be looking to turn around a three-match losing streak next Friday night.
“We have been playing well but you can’t say that Adelaide and Melbourne aren’t in form as well,” Murdocca said.
“So yeah, we’re playing well, but I wouldn’t say that we’re the best team going into the finals.”
“I think we’re all very similar and you chuck Central Coast in there, on their day they can beat anybody so I think every team in the finals has got to be very careful.”
“The results haven’t gone their way but hopefully it doesn’t turn for them against us. It can easily happen so we’ve just got to be on our best behaviour and we should do the job.”
Central Coast’s losing streak has coincided with the departure of Mile Jedinak and Murdocca knows just how important he was to his team.
“He was a very important player for them, especially in that position – it’s probably one of the most important positions on the field,” he said.
“They’ve been trying to replace someone in that position and it hasn’t really worked for them at the moment.”
Murdocca is in doubt for the match with a hamstring complaint, but the midfielder is confident he will recover in time for the Gosford trip.
“It’s a little bit tender, still a bit tight and I’d be reluctant to run very quickly at the moment but that’ll come,” he said.
“It’s been a relaxing week this week. We’re resting all the boys and we’re just getting ready for next week but the mood in the camp has been good.”
