Brisbane Roar boss John Aloisi has praised the professionalism of Jamie Maclaren following the benched forward’s late winner away to Wellington Phoenix on Saturday.
Maclaren, who scored a record-breaking 20 times last season, grabbed the only goal in the 87th minute at Westpac Stadium after missing out on a starting spot for the second straight week.
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“Jamie is obviously disappointed he hasn’t started the last two games but he didn’t drop his head,” Aloisi told Sky Sport NZ.
“He worked hard in training, knew the opportunity was going to come and wanted to take it. And he did.
“It was great work from Brandon Borrello but Jamie Maclaren, as we know any striker needs to be there, and he was there.”
Now back on track after a run of three straight defeats, Aloisi believes Saturday’s result is reward his side’s recent effort.
“It was really important to get the three points tonight because we feel we’ve been playing well,” he said.
“The results haven’t been going our way but we knew if we kept on performing they would turn.
“This is a hard place to come and I thought we played some really good stuff. We earned the three points.”
