Roar ready for Adelaide Blockbuster

Queensland Roar and Adelaide United resume their hot rivalry tomorrow at Suncorp Stadium in a game that is a ‘must win’ for both sides.

Roar currently lie in 3rd place on the Hyundai A-League ladder, three points adrift of John Kosmina’s side who occupy the all-important 2nd place. With Melbourne Victory now 15 points clear of Queensland and 12 clear of Adelaide following their 1-0 win over Perth Glory last night, this is set to be a crucial match for both teams if either are to harbour any realistic notion of staying in touch with the runaway leaders.

A draw is of little use to Kosmina or Bleiberg but the Adelaide United Coach will be forced to watch his troops’ endeavours to win the game from the comfort of the grandstand as he sees out the final game of his touchline ban.

A win against Adelaide United will be the perfect tonic for Bleiberg’s men after their shock loss to New Zealand Knights last week and the Roar boss says the squad are eager to let their performance do the talking.

“Last week was painful and of course we were all hurt. I have seen the look in their eyes this week at training so I can only be optimistic about our chances tomorrow. Of course we know that this is a crucial game for us and for Adelaide United too. It can take our season back to where it was when we were flying high or it can give us another knock on the head like we got last week,” said Bleiberg.

After being laid low this week with the same stomach virus that struck three other members of the squad, goalkeeper Liam Reddy has made a speedier than expected recovery and is back in contention to continue between the posts.

“Liam was very sick on Tuesday night and missed training on Wednesday. Normally these viruses really take it out of you and you can lose weight and take a four, five or six days to recover. I think that maybe Liam saw the news reports and that has helped him to recover. He attended training yesterday like nothing had happened,” Bleiberg joked.

“We will have another training session this afternoon (Friday) and if Liam is okay and trains like he did yesterday then he will play,” he said.

In other team news, young defender and Australian Olympic prospect Ben Griffin returns to the side in place of Remo Buess and Dario Vidosic, who returned from international duty with the Young Socceroos earlier this week, is also included in the squad.

Chinese import Yuning Zhang is likely to miss out this week with a thigh strain, but Ante Milicic has recovered from his stomach virus and will start providing he trains today without complications. Brazilian striker Reinaldo has been passed fit after collecting an elbow to the eye in training and Simon Lynch is set to return after completing 60 minutes in New Zealand last week.

Queensland Roar Squad: 1.Tom Willis (gk), 2.Andrew Packer, 5.Josh McCloughan, 6.Stuart McLaren, 7.Marcus Wedau, 9.Simon Lynch, 10.Ante Milicic, 11.Reinaldo da Costa, 13.Spase Dilevski, 14.Ben Griffin, 15.Matthew McKay, 16.Hyuk-Su Seo, 18.Dario Vidosic, 19.Sasa Ognenovski, 20.Liam Reddy (gk).

In: Dario Vidosic (international duty), Ben Griffin (promoted), Ante Milicic (illness). Out: Remo Buess, Carl Recchia (both omitted), Yuning Zhang (thigh injury – out for 1 week).

Adelaide United Squad: 1.Daniel Beltrame (gk), 2.Richie Alagich, 3.Kristian Rees, 4.Angelo Costanzo, 5.Michael Valkanis, 6.Ross Aloisi (Captain), 8.Carl Veart, 9.Matthew Kemp, 10.Fernando, 12.Greg Owens, 13.Travis Dodd, 14.Aaron Goulding, 18.Robert Cornthwaite, 20.Robert Bajic (gk), 21.Jason Spagnuolo.
No change to last week's team.

A-League Round 12

Queensland Roar vs Adelaide United
Saturday night, November 11, 2006
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Kick off: 7:00pm (local/AEST), 7:30pm (SA/ACDT)

Live Coverage on Fox Sports Three from 7:00pm (AEST/QLD).
Radio: LIFE FM (Adelaide) 107.9FM.

Tickets: Ticketek – available via internet or phone and at the venue. Call 132 849 or visit www.ticketek.com.au