Brisbane Roar striker Jamie Maclaren says he isn’t feeling the burden of expectations after his breakout 20-goal season.
The 23-year-old was a revelation for Roar last term after his move from Perth Glory, winning the PFA Young Player of the Year and earning his maiden Socceroos call-up.
The former Blackburn Rovers junior will lead the line when Roar open the new A-League season at home to Melbourne Victory on Friday night.
Maclaren netted 20 goals for Brisbane last campaign, with the next best coming from Henrique with eight, but he’s since departed for Adelaide United via Malaysia.
The Melbourne-born talent insistes he can handle expectations.
“I’ve always believed in myself,” Maclaren said.
“I’ve got coaches that believe in me, my team-mates believe in me and I believe in what we’re doing.
“The structures we’ve set up are attacking and that’s what I like.”
Maclaren credited his fellow troops for his golden run of goals in 2015/16.
“The reason I scored 20 goals was because of the chances my team-mates were creating," he said.
“It’s my job to score goals and if my team plays well, they’ll create chances for me and hopefully I’ll put them away.”
Former Socceroo Brett Holman missed training on Tuesday with the flu but is expected to be fit to play on Friday night.
The new Spanish signing Manuel Arana is less likely to be ready, having only been unveiled on the weekend.
“It’s tough for foreigners but we’ve got enough experience in our squad to handle it until he’s fit,” Maclaren said.
“I don’t think he’ll be far off.”
Brisbane fell short on the final weekend in the Premier’s Plate last season, while they blew a three-goal lead in the A-League semi-finals.
Maclaren said that left a burning desire to improve, pointing to the club’s fitness.
“We’ve been fitter than what we were last year,” he said. “That’s how I feel, personally, anyway.
“We’ve recruited well, even in the attacking third with Arana last week.
“It might take him a week or two to get up to pace, but we’ve made some real good gains and we can’t wait for the season to begin.”
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