Strikers Wary Of Out-Of-Sorts Olympic
Words: Staff Writers
Image: Albert Perez/Football Queensland
Brisbane Strikers coach Kevin A’herne-Evans says his side are taking nothing for granted in their derby clash with out-of-form Olympic FC on Sunday.
Strikers go into the clash as strong favourites after notching two straight wins against in-form opponents as they break the shackles of a sluggish start to the season to sit just outside the top four.
Meanwhile, Olympic have a single win from the opening five rounds and currently sit second from bottom in the league standings.
However, A’herne-Evans said Olympic remain a significantly trickier proposition than early season results suggest.
“I tend to look at performance over results. I think at this part of the season Olympic have made progression every week that they’ve played,” he explained.
“They’ve got a completely new squad over that of previous years, which takes a little bit of time to gel and try different players in different areas - that’s what they’ve found themselves doing over the last five or six weeks.”
He added, ““We know that Olympic aren’t going to accept the position that that they are in at the moment and they will be looking at it as an opportunity to try and get one over us and really set the scene from here.”
Both Strikers and Olympic are yet to record wins against their fellow capital city clubs this season.
Olympic were twice found wanting against Brisbane City and Brisbane Roar Youth, while the Young Roar also held Strikers to a draw in the opening match of the season.
With bragging rights on the line, A’herne-Evans cited former Olympic players Rhys Meredith and Jake McLean, who both joined Strikers during the off-season, as being potential game-changers in this weekend’s clash.
“Every footballer or coach who goes back to play against their old team obviously want to make sure that they have a good game and do their utmost to get the bragging rights at the end of it,” he concluded.
A win for Strikers could see them enter the top four for the first time this season depending on other results.
PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2016 – Round 6
Sunday, April 10
Olympic FC v Brisbane Strikers FC
Goodwin Park, Brisbane
Kick-off at 6PM
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