Brisbane coach Ange Postecoglou has thrown his support behind the Hyundai A-League’s mid-week football experiment, preferring to see the positives in a hurried schedule that will see the Roar play three games in seven days.
Round 19 of the A-League will be broken up over the next five weeks, with each side having to play on either Tuesday or Wednesday night at some point.
Brisbane will kick it off on Wednesday night when it hosts North Queensland at Suncorp Stadium.
With the Roar coming off a ‘frustrating’ 1-0 loss to cellar dwellers Adelaide United at home last weekend, the chance to reverse that result can not come soon enough for Postecoglou.
“It’s actually good that there’s a game tomorrow night, it gives the players a chance to atone for that (loss to the Reds),” Postecoglou said at training on Tuesday.
“With two games to go this week, we can make up a lot of ground (on the ladder).”
Brisbane currently occupies ninth place on the table with 20 points, but they can easily charge into the top six with positive results this week.
The even nature of the competitions means the men in orange could even overtake fourth-placed Newcastle (25 points) if they pick up full points from the two games.
Postecoglou’s only complaint was in regard to the short turnaround his injury beset side is facing.
Ivan Franjic (hamstring), Tommy Oar (ankle), Matt McKay (quad), Reinaldo (hamstring) and Danny Tiatto (hamstring) are all either currently injured or have just overcome ailments.
Postecoglou admitted it would be a difficult prospect this Saturday when Brisbane travels to Bluetongue Stadium to lock horns with the Central Coast.
“There’s no doubt both teams will feel the pressure after backing up, but at the same time it will be more of an issue for both coaches come the weekend because we’ll both be playing a side that’s had a week off,” he said.
“Everyone has one (a mid-week game) at some stage, we would have liked for this weekend’s game to be on Sunday instead of Saturday, and we’ve also had a day less rest than North Queensland.”
“You can grumble about that, but at the end of the day it’s a good opportunity for us.”
The fact that seven points is all that separates last from third on the ladder is the reason Postecoglou was unwilling to reel out the ‘must-win’ cliche for the clash with the ninth-placed Fury.
“Every week is the same, even if we had of won on the weekend, we’d still be desperate for a win on Wednesday.”
“We’ve got nine games to go, I don’t think that’s going to change, every week is going to be pretty similar.”
“Really apart from Melbourne and maybe Sydney, the rest of the teams are all having a hiccup along the way.”
“It’s just that kind of season, it’s that kind of league, every three points you take is vitally important.”
Meanwhile, the Roar have signed Redlands City goalkeeper Matt Ham for the remainder of the Hyundai A-League 2009/10 season.
Ham’s services were secured following the immediate release of Liam Reddy from the remainder of his contract with the club on Tuesday.
He rejoins the club having been signed to the Queensland Roar Hyundai A-League squad in the 2007/08 season.
A shoulder injury, which required surgery, in pre-season of that year ended his stint with the club before it had started.
