Brisbane Roar coach John Aloisi says Jamie Maclaren and Brett Holman will be involved in Saturday night’s home game against Western Sydney Wanderers.
Key striker Maclaren has started off the bench in the Roar’s past two matches and scored the winner in the 87th minute as they downed Wellington 1-0 last week.
Maclaren had a light session on Friday, but Aloisi said the star striker had a heavy workload earlier in the week.
The 23-year-old’s contract will expire at the end of the season.
“Jamie understands it’s not about any individuals, it’s about the team,” Aloisi said.
“As a coach you need to select teams to win that game and also to look at the future of the next game coming up. There are players that are going to be not starting… I’m not saying it’s because they haven’t been playing well and I’m leaving them out.
“We’ve got a hectic period coming up and he’s fresh. He never dropped his head once and you saw when he came on that the confidence was still there and that’ll give him more confidence.”
It was announced today Luke DeVere resigned for another two seasons after Dimi Petratos confirmed his move to Newcastle Jets next season.
Aloisi denied any claims the team chemistry among the team was down.
“As a group we can’t allow what goes on the outside affect us,” he said.
“If there were disgruntled players then on the weekend, when we had a really good first half against Wellington, they got on top a little bit in the second half… a team that’s disgruntled and unhappy would’ve folded… after three losses as well.
“People can say what they want. This group isn’t disgruntled.”
Aloisi revealed Holman would potentially partake in the clash against the Wanderers after recovering from a knee injury he picked up in November.
Holman was sidelined and had surgery to repair a minor tear in his meniscus after the 1-1 draw to the Wanderers in Round 8.
“It’s great to have him back, we didn’t speak about him while he’s been out for eight weeks,” Aloisi said.
“We’ve still got players who can cover if Brett doesn’t play. We all know what Brett brings, he’s a top quality player, there’s a reason why he’s played at the highest level and he’s only going to help us.”
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