As Queensland Roar embark on their Hyundai A-League finals campaign, defender Andrew Packer believes they will travel to the Central Coast with an air of confidence.
The Roar take on the Mariners in the first leg of the minor semi final at Bluetongue Stadium on Friday night and Packer did not think twice when asked on Tuesday about whether or not his side is feeling confident.
“I think so, especially with our away record the way it is,” Packer said.
“We want to keep it that way and it’ll work out if we get to the Grand Final, we’ll need to win three away games pretty much, so hopefully we can do that.”
“I think the last couple of weeks you have really seen a big lift in intensity at training, it’s been really good, all the boys are really pushing for a spot, it’s been excellent and hopefully we can transfer that into a big performance on Friday night.”
Queensland enters the business end of the season as one of the form teams of the competition, having won four of its last five games, and finish the 2008/09 regular season with the best away record in the league.
Packer’s comments gain even more credibility when you add into the mix the fact his side has never lost at Bluetongue Stadium in the history of the Hyundai A-League.
But the 28-year-old knew a positive result was anything but a fait accompli.
“We’ve never lost down there, but finals are different. Hopefully we can keep that record in the finals as well,” he said.
“That’d be great, it’d be nice to come back with a win and come home knowing that all we need (in the second leg) is a draw to get us through.”
Packer nominated Matt Simon as the most potent weapon in Central Coast’s sizeable artillery that features Nik Mrdja, Dylan Macallister and Sasho Petrovski.
“They’re all pretty similar, but I think Simon is the guy who is the real danger player.”
“He’s quick, he’s quite skillful, wins a lot in the air, so he’s a very dangerous player, we’ll have to watch all of them obviously, but he’s probably the No.1.”
As for how to combat the Mariners’ noted strike force, Packer admitted it would be a tough ask.
“Just don’t let the ball get to them in the first place, that’d be nice.”
“The boys have been doing really well in midfield and hopefully our work rate will be the same as usual and they won’t get any service at all.”
