Roar tempers flare ahead of Victory clash

Tempers boiled over as Queensland Roar prepared to end their home-ground frustrations against joint A-League leaders Melbourne Victory tomorrow night.

An ugly training flare-up between Dutch striker Sergio van Dijk and fringe midfielder David Dodd today highlighted the pressure building on the Roar to perform at Suncorp Stadium.

Van Dijk and Dodd repeatedly pushed each other and hurled abuse back and forward after colliding in a contest for the ball during their last session at foundation base Richlands.

“They were on the angry pills this morning, I don’t know why but yeah they were going at it,” said coach Frank Farina.

“But look it’s a good sign. I’d rather have that than have a very mediocre training session.”

Farina denied the incident between the competitive duo had been fuelled by extra pressure but defender Andrew Packer felt it showed the Roar’s desperation to stay in the premiership mix after finally lifting themselves into the top-four with back-to-back away wins over Wellington and Newcastle.

“Everyone is pretty focused on what we have to do, we want to stay in the top four and be there the whole season,” Packer said.

“We put pressure on each other at training every day and sometimes it can get a bit aggressive, but there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Farina, himself, has had a gutful of the constant questions and assessments of Queensland’s home woes after taking just one point from four matches in Brisbane compared to a magnificent 14 in six on the road.

“I keep saying, it will come for us,” he said today.

“We’re two points off top spot and probably should be leading the league.

“It doesn’t add any additional pressure to us.”

The Victory come to Brisbane buoyed by the dual return of star striker Archie Thompson and Brazilian import Ney Fabiano from suspension.

Queensland scored a 2-0 upset in Melbourne in round six and Farina expects an entertaining battle, with the Victory’s natural inclination to attack likely to open up more chances for the home side.

“They like to play and they have some creative players in there so I expect it’s going to be a belter of a game,” he said.

Roar linchpin Charlie Miller will start in an unchanged team but is unlikely to get through the whole game with a calf problem, while the Victory have lost the dangerous Evan Berger (hamstring).

Thompson’s return from a two-match ban probably comes too late for him to be included in the Socceroos squad to be named Monday for the World Cup qualifier in Bahrain.

The man marking him, Craig Moore, is tipped to be the only A-League player picked by Pim Verbeek.

“We’ve got some attackers back and they’re going to be wary of that and they know they need to win at home,” Thompson said.

“So hopefully they try to push forward, so that’s where we’re good when a team is trying to push forward and we can get in behind them.

“We’re just going to play our game and whatever Queensland do they do.”

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