Farina braced for battle
Frank Farina has set his team a target of five points from the remaining four matches to reach the finals of the Hyundai A-League.
Queensland Roar is currently just inside the top four on 26 points, with history suggesting 31 points will be enough to secure a place in the finals.
But Farina is braced for a bruising run into the finals, starting with this weekend-s match against a tough Central Coast Mariners outfit in Gosford.
“The Central Coast is an important one again and we back up against Adelaide three days after,” the Roar coach said.
“It-s always difficult to go down there but we-ve done reasonably well there so hopefully that can continue.”
The Roar have never lost a Hyundai A-League fixture at Bluetongue Stadium with two wins and three draws since the league-s inception.
But Farina said the team would have to work hard to maintain that record.
“We hadn-t lost away from home until last week so they-re just stats,” he said.
“It comes down to us, how we play ourselves and how we turn up for the game.
“I-ve been very happy with the attitude of the players this season and as long as we continue that, there-s no reason why we can-t go down and get the points.
“The pass mark is really at the end of the season and that is to reach the four.
“We haven-t locked that away yet so that-s really what we-re looking at. From the last four games we need at least five points.”
The Mariners welcome back suspended strikers Dylan Macallister and Matt Simon but Farina will be hoping to capitalise on the hole left by Turkey-bound midfielder Mile Jedinak.
“He has been their best player this year so he-ll be a big loss for them. They-re going to be battling for the points as we are.”
Queensland Roar-s match against the Mariners kicks off at 6pm (AEST) Saturday and will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1.