Brisbane Roar will welcome back striker Besart Berisha for their trip to Gosford to take on the Central Coast Mariners on Saturday.
After a poor showing in their 1-0 loss to Newcastle last weekend, the Roar have a tough task to turn things around, with the Mariners riding a 15-match unbeaten streak.
Berisha, the A-League’s leading scorer, incurred a one-match suspension after asking Sydney FC defender Pascal Bosschaart to settle their differences in the tunnel following his side’s 2-1 win over Sydney on January 14.
Brisbane coach Ange Postecoglou said the passionate Albanian was eager to return to the mix and that his suspension had been a good learning experience.
“He’s pretty keen to be back out there, and hopefully he’s put everything behind him in terms of the last few weeks,” Postecoglou said.
“He’s just happy to be out there and happy to contribute.”
“Watching the team last week, it’s hard for players to miss out when the team loses, because they feel like they haven’t really contributed.”
“It’s a good lesson. We’ve been really disciplined over the past 18 months not to have too many players missing through suspensions and so forth, so it was disappointing to have him out last week.”
Postecoglou will include impressive youth team playmaker George Lambadaridis in his side, and the Brisbane coach is excited by the 19-year-old’s potential.
“He’s in the squad and he’s on the bench, so more than likely he’ll get a run at some point, so it’ll be good to see him,” Postecoglou said.
“He’s been working really hard at training and playing well in the youth team. We’re always trying to develop young players and with a few absences this week it gives him and a couple of others the chance to step up.”
