Jean Carlos Solorzano has been making an impact off the bench for the Roar

WITH just 70 minutes of football under his belt this season, Brisbane Roar striker Jean Carlos Solorzano remains a work in progress.

Brisbane Roar training at Griffith Uni fields. Jean Carlos Solorzano. Pic Jono Searle.

WITH just 70 minutes of football under his belt this season, Brisbane Roar striker Jean Carlos Solorzano remains a work in progress.

But ahead of Sunday night’s Brisbane-Melbourne City showdown at Suncorp Stadium, the 27-year-old Costa Rican international can see his hard yards on the training paddock are starting to pay off.

And that’s great news for the Roar, who want Solorzano back to his very best next month when in-form marksman Jamie Maclaren leaves with the Olyroos for AFC under-23 championships in Qatar.

Maclaren will miss at least three A-League matches, with Solorzano his logical replacement.

“I have been through a really tough time with injuries but now I’m recovering well,” said Solorzano who has made an impact off the bench in the past two weeks since returning from a hamstring problem.

“I’m just waiting for the opportunity. Every time I come on the field, I try to do my best for the team.”

Jean Carlos Solorzano during a Roar training session. Pic Jono Searle.

Such a positive attitude is likely to again be needed on Sunday when the Roar attempt to snap Melbourne City’s four-game winning streak and stretch their own run of victories to three.

“What is important is what we’re doing. I think the whole group is believing,” Solorzano said.

“We are playing at home and we have to win the game.”

Solorzano is off contract at the end of the season and wants to stay at the club.

“My wife (Sophie) is Australian. Brisbane has become my second home, so I want to stay here. But I think at this point what is important is the team,” he said.

Roar coach John Aloisi has been impressed with Solorzano’s commitment this season.

But that alone won’t be enough to earn him a new deal, with Solorzano needing to get his body right and continue to improve on his wholehearted performances in Brisbane’s past two matches.

“I’ve always been a really positive person and when difficult times come, that is when you have to be a bit more strong (and) try to recover a bit better,” he said.

“I would say now I’m getting the chance to be back … I’m going to try to take my opportunity.”

Solorzano was on Thursday named in an extended Roar squad for Sunday night’s clash, with Aloisi to omit two players before kick-off.

Aloisi will be forced to make at least one change to the side that started in last Sunday’s 1-0 away win over Central Coast Mariners, with midfielder Steve Lustica set to miss two games with abdominal strain.

The versatile Dimitri Petratos could be recalled to the starting XI after his matchwinning cameo against the Mariners, or Aloisi may opt for Spaniard Javier Hervas, the player who came on for Lustica in Gosford.

Originally published as Jean Carlos Solorzano has been making an impact off the bench for the Roar