Brisbane has shown there is still some bite left in its season after Sunday night’s 4-1 win over the Wellington Phoenix, however Roar coach Ange Postecoglou maintains that the squad needs to produce more consistency in order to keep its season ticking over.
“After a big win at home you kind of send a message out there that we do mean business, but we still need to back that up, we haven’t been able to do that and get a run of wins together,” Postecoglou said.
“We can’t get carried away, it’s a good win for a team that’s struggled to win at home, and under all sorts of pressure for the players in particular, it’s not an easy thing to do.”
“(When) you look at the last three or four games we’ve battled everyone of them , we just haven’t been able to get the results , but I can’t question the effort, tonight the players get a reward for their hard work and hopefully it gives them the confidence to keep going.”
Going into the break with scores level, Roar players were inspired by captain Craig Moore’s super human efforts, the Qantas Socceroos veteran refusing to succumb to an illness which left him vomiting in the change rooms at half-time.
“He wasn’t well, even during the game he was struggling, I kept telling him to take it easy and he just kept throwing himself into things,” Postecoglou said.
“When you see your captain do stuff like that I think it lifts the whole group, we had quite a few tired bodies, but no-one’s going to stop when you see your captain throwing himself around like that.”
Notching up just its third home win of the season, Brisbane produced an effort worthy of finals football, the major positive coming from forward pair Reinaldo and Sergio van Dijk who both found their way onto the score-sheet.
Scoring his 20th goal in 39 appearances for the club, van Dijk said after the match that he felt the team needed to work ever harder to continue getting results.
“Of course every win gives you a boost in confidence, but when you win, you have to work even harder to keep winning, that’s what we have to do now,” he said.
“We can enjoy this win today but from now on we have to focus on the next game, we’re not there yet but and we have to keep on working hard and the rest will follow.”
Sunday night’s win has moved Brisbane up to seventh on table and takes it to within striking distance of the Roar’s next opponent Perth, who currently sit in fifth with 22 points.
