Queensland Roar will take the unusual step of going into camp and staying in a hotel ahead of their Hyundai A-League clash against Melbourne Victory at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
The Roar could claim top spot on the ladder with a win over Melbourne, but indifferent form at home, where the Brisbane-based side has claimed just one point for the season, has Queensland coach Frank Farina scratching his head.
Farina will bring his side together on the eve of the match in an attempt to recreate a similar mindset that has seen his side become the star traveling team of the competition.
The Roar’s mediocre record in Brisbane has been well noted by the side, but veteran defender Andrew Packer denied the Roar were feeling any pressure.
“Not really, we’re staying in a hotel again tonight, so we’ll just pretend it’s an away game I think, that seems like the smartest thing for us,” Packer joked.
“But seriously, I wouldn’t say we are, there’s a little bit of aggression and that sort of thing…we sure as hell don’t talk about it, at the end of the day we’ve just got to do the business.”
Queensland had a physical hit out at training on Friday, with plenty of push and shove all across the park.
Farina even had to intervene as peacemaker at one stage when David Dodd and Sergio van Dijk were blowing up over a mistimed tackle.
Packer said everyone was focused on getting the three points come Saturday night and the physicality was simply a side product.
“We put pressure on each other at training everyday and sometimes it can get a little bit aggressive and stuff like that, but there’s nothing wrong with that though.”
Farina was similarly untroubled about the brutal session.
“They were on the angry pills this morning, I don’t know why they were going at it, but it’s a good sign, I’d rather have that than a very mediocre training session,” he said.
The former-Socceroos coach denied the Roar’s poor record at home had left his players feisty ahead of the match against Melbourne.
“I don’t think that’s got anything to do with it, they’re just getting on each others nerves at the moment, and they’re all competitive.”
“I just think it is a big game, whether it’s at home or away, Melbourne are sitting top of the league and we’re two points off them, so it’s a big game, it’s important, hopefully we can win.”
Farina had a straightforward explanation of his side’s woeful record at Suncorp Stadium this season, where they have recorded one draw and three losses.
“They’ve been narrow losses at home for us, and being honest I think we’ve played very well in every game, Central Coast we made some bad mistakes but the other games we’ve dominated, and dominated shots on goal.”
“The previous two (home) games, we could have and should have won.”
“Everyone continues to ask the question, why can’t you win at home, it’s very simple, we’ve got to start taking our chances that we create, we haven’t done that thus far this season and that’s the only issue.”
The Roar will take an unchanged starting line-up into the match against the table-topping Victory, with Charlie Miller expected to battle through his hernia ailment and a calf injury.
“We’re pretty happy with the way we’ve been playing, obviously we’ll go in with certain little things geared towards Melbourne, we’re going out there to try and get three points, it’s just that simple.”
