A late signing is still on the agenda of Brisbane Roar boss Robbie Fowler after a failed attempt to lure Sydney FC star Luke Brattan back to Queensland.
Brattan – who won two Premierships and three Championships with Brisbane – penned a two-year contract extension with the Sky Blues on Tuesday, fending off Fowler’s interest in making the 29-year-old a January coup for the Roar.
Premier League great Fowler admitted he was disappointed by the midfielder’s rebuttal, but insisted the club would still try to bolster their roster before the transfer window slams shut tonight, when Brisbane visit Sydney.
“He’s a good player, like every team in the A-League when you’ve got players that are doing really well and coming off contract, you want to try and have a little word with them, but it wasn’t to be.
“Would we like him? Of course we would have.
“We did a bit of digging and tried to but I totally respect his decision. He’s a big player for Sydney.
“We’ll just have to try and look elsewhere.”
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“We’ll still try and work on something but it’s not a necessity. If something can happen we’ll try and force it through but we’re quite aware that it’s pretty late now.
“It might be tough but you never know.”
Brisbane take on the reigning Champions on the back of a five-match unbeaten run and when it comes to his side’s chances of springing an upset, Fowler is hopeful.
Roar’s defensive improvement, highlighted by two back to back clean sheets, gives cause for optimism, and the 44-year-old believes his side have made great strides since their last meeting with Sydney – a 5-1 defeat in December.
“If you look at where we are now to what we were last year, we were conceding goals left right and centre,” he said.
“We knew we had to get that right. We’ve been a bit better – you take away the five goals we conceded against Sydney, the defence has been relatively OK.
“We can try and rectify the silly mistakes and naivety from a defensive point of view we’ll go into this game in much better shape.
“We’re a better team now than what we were a month ago.”
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