Moon: Opportunity for Roar youngsters to shine

Brisbane Roar head coach Warren Moon is excited to unleash some of his younger players in the FFA Cup Quarter Finals as his side face Sydney FC on Wednesday night. 

The Quarter Final clash at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium will be Roar's first game in over a month, with a number of their A-League Men's matches postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Brisbane have reached the Quarter Finals for the first time in their history, but their league form has not been as strong, with just one point from their opening four games. 

And despite "five or six" players still unavailable for Wednesday's clash, Moon insists the side are going out with the intention of extending their best ever run in the FFA Cup.

“We’re obviously excited [to return to action],” Moon said on Tuesday.

“It’s been a pretty surreal, crazy time since our last match with everything that’s gone on. We’re excited but we’re fairly depleted.

“We’ve got boys coming out of isolation today, yesterday, a couple of days ago that aren’t available for selection because of the protocols. [Some have] had symptoms and side effects, so they’re not 100% feeling great in terms of their fitness. We can’t risk them for tomorrow night.

“There will be an opportunity for a couple of young boys in the squad to come down and get a game.”

The winner of Sydney FC v Brisbane Roar will then host Central Coast Mariners in the last four, which is an added incentive for the match. 

“The boys can probably let the shackles off and play with a bit of freedom knowing it’s an opportunity to play in a Semi Final at home,” he said.

“We’re going through a rough patch right now but that doesn’t mean we don’t have intentions and ambitions to win this game and go on to win this tournament. We certainly do. And we’re not the only team going through it.

“We just have to prepare as best we can, go out there tomorrow night and do our very best to win the match.”

FFA Cup 2021 Quarter Final

Sydney FC v Brisbane Roar
Date: 
Wednesday, 12 January
Time: 6pm AEDT kick-off, 5pm AEST
Venue: Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, Sydney
Broadcast: Live & free on 10 Play
Tickets: BUY HERE

Those tuning in from overseas in countries without a broadcaster can stream the game via our official YouTube channel