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There will be more than bragging rights on offer for Queensland coach Frank Farina when the Roar take on Sydney FC on Saturday night.
But clearly Farina will relish a chance to silence rival coach John Kosmina with a victory at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
The Roar can keep alive their quest for a cherished top two A-League finish with a win.
And Farina can’t think of a better side to do it against than Kosmina’s Sydney FC.
It emerged this week that master niggler Kosmina had taunted Farina about the Roar’s chances after a friendly phone call turned nasty.
Farina tried to laugh off the incident on Friday.
“Kossie is Kossie,” Farina said.
“We get along well. He puts shit on me, I put shit on him.
“What goes around comes around. He’s confident they are going to beat us tomorrow – we will see.”
Farina appeared confident of notching his first win of the season over his rival on the third attempt after Sergio van Dijk (cheekbone), Danny Tiatto (foot), Josh McCloughan (hamstring) and Scottish veteran Charlie Miller (hernia) were cleared for the grudge match.
However, Farina would not risk Liam Reddy (hamstring) – despite his No.1 goalkeeper passing a fitness test – and stuck with rookie stopper Griffin McMaster.
Exciting youngster Tahj Minniecon (hip) had fears of a season-ending injury allayed but was not considered for the weekend.
Perhaps with his thoughts still lingering on Kosmina’s cheeky phone call, Farina said confidence was high.
“Destiny is in our own hands. If we can win our last two home games we will have a shot at the top two which is what everyone wants.”
There were serious concerns for van Dijk’s health when the Dutchman collided with Robert Cornthwaite and lost consciousness in Wednesday’s 0-0 clash at Adelaide – a result that ended Queensland’s hopes of topping the table.
But scans on Friday cleared him of a right cheekbone fracture.
Reddy was not so lucky however he is expected to be available for their last regular season clash against Perth at Brisbane on January 24.
McMaster will start for the third straight game.
“Griffin had a good game against Adelaide, and I thought he had a good game against Central Coast,” Farina said.
“He made one big mistake (against Central Coast) but most probably saved us in the end.”
It will be Queensland’s third game in a week.
“(But) having Danny (Tiatto) and Josh (McCloughan) back tomorrow that’s two fresh faces,” Farina said.
“This is our third game in a week. The more fresh faces you have can be of benefit.”
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