The Melbourne Victory camp may be doing their best to downplay the absence of hamstrung skipper Kevin Muscat, but Brisbane Roar coach Frank Farina is confident it could help swing this weekend’s Hyundai A-League clash his way.
Matthew Kemp will replace Muscat in central defence for the hosts at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night while Rody Vargas will take the captain’s armband.
Farina did not mince words when asked about how Melbourne would be impacted by the loss of the former Qantas Socceroo.
“Personally I think they are a weaker side without him,” Farina said.
“It’s his leadership skills and his organisation skills that Melbourne will miss.”
“All last season I don’t think he missed a game, and it’s his driving force from the back that organises them and makes the team tick.”
The Victory are coming off a shock 2-0 loss to Central Coast in the opening round that caught even Farina by surprise.
However the former Qantas Socceroos coach suggested he would take little from the result, saying there was no such thing as a good week to take on the reigning Hyundai A-League champions.
“We’re playing away from home against Melbourne, they’re the champions … it’s going to be very, very tight. There’s not much between all the teams in the league,” he said.
“If anything they’ll be pretty wound up to try and turn that around. It’s their second home game so they’re going to desperately want points.”
The Roar will take a largely unchanged starting lineup into the game, with the only exception being the injury-enforced omission of defender Andrew Packer.
Farina promised the same style of open, attacking football that was exhibited in his side’s 3-1 loss to Gold Coast United last Saturday.
“We’ll play the same sort of game plan that we always play,” he said.
“We’re not like a bull in a china shop early on, but certainly we’ve got the players that can play quickly once we get possession.”
Brisbane goalkeeper Liam Reddy said his side would be looking to take the full three points, especially after the Mariners’ performance last week.
“I saw the game, they (Central Coast) did the simple things right and frustrated Melbourne so hopefully we can do something similar,” Reddy said.
“Everyone had written them off and they proved Melbourne are beatable down there.”
