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Melbourne Victory striker Archie Thompson admits he faces a tough comeback both physically and mentally when he combats veteran Queensland Roar defender Craig Moore at Suncorp Stadium tomorrow night.
Thompson, returning from a two-game A-League suspension, said Moore, who he has played with numerous times in Socceroos colours, had an ability to find his vulnerable points like few other players.
“I hate him, he’s a good defender, he’s still good and he gets inside your head,” the Melbourne star said today.
“I remember playing (against Moore), I’ve mentioned it a few times, he said `Archie you’ve put on a few kilos, you’re looking a bit heavy’ and I tell you what I started breathing a little bit heavier.
“So he’s good in that sense too but he’s a great defender and I’m glad that he’s back with the Socceroos.”
But marquee player Thompson will not be the only serious threat for Moore and his defensive colleagues tomorrow night, with Brazilian striker Ney Fabiano also returning after a six-game ban.
While Thompson was unwilling to reveal whether he, Fabiano and fellow frontman Danny Allsopp will all start against the Roar, he said the tall Brazilian added a key element to Melbourne’s attack.
“He wins a lot of the ball in the air and although Danny does that a lot, I think Fab’s probably better at it and we can definitely feed off that,” Thompson said.
“He’s huge, the first couple of games we saw glimpses of what he can do.
“Just training with him – we’ve been training an awful lot because that’s all we can do at the moment – just seeing how he wins the ball in the air, he holds the ball up, he’s just a different type of player to me and Danny, he brings something exciting to the team.”
While Thompson was hit by a virus earlier this week, he said he had recovered well and had little doubt he could get through the full 90 minutes.
Likewise, he was confident Fabiano could make it through, if needed, despite his long absence from the game.
“Training’s definitely not like playing games, it’s a different intensity,” he said.
“But he’s been working hard, (Adam Basil) our physical guy has been working really hard with him, so he’s keen to be out there.
“He’s been out of the game so long and that’s not even with an injury, so again he just wants to get back.”
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