A-League: Brisbane Roar braced for tough encounter with Perth Glory

Roar coach John Aloisi reckons Perth Glory will miss the spark of coach Kenny Lowe on the touchline.

Brisbane striker Brett Holman is set for a tough game against Perth Glory.

Brisbane coach John Aloisi reckons Perth will lose a little of their vitality because their “infectious” coach Kenny Lowe will be seated in the Suncorp Stadium stands tomorrow and not directing traffic from pitchside.

Lowe is serving the first of a two-match ban for coming on the pitch at halftime and being verbally abusive to officials in the 3-2 win over Melbourne City last weekend. Roar could be the first lucky beneficiaries of his absence.

“You know what he’s like,” Aloisi said of Lowe yesterday as Roar completed their last session at Ballymore Oval. “He’s always jumping around … he’s infectious.

“It’s not hard to lift as a player when you have someone like him on the sideline not only yelling at you but with all the emotion.

“So the players will probably lose a little bit, but I’m sure the coaching staff will make sure they get up for the game.”

Aloisi is probably wishing his players could grow a couple of centimetres to match it with Glory’s tall men, four of whom are 185cm or over: Andy Keogh, Rostyn Griffiths, Rhys Williams and Brandon Wilson.

Perth also have a physical presence on the pitch and are the most penalised team in the A-League so far this season.

“They’ve had 12 yellow cards in three games — the most of any team — but we’ll match them. We won’t get bullied,” Aloisi said.

“Look at (defender) Luke De Vere (186cm). He’s a big boy and he’s not going to take a step backwards. We’re prepared. But we need to be patient and play our game and not get too anxious.

“Brett Holman might be short but he played in Premier League so he knows how to protect himself and look after himself.”

Holman yesterday revealed Aloisi had been making that point to the players all week.

“We’re ready for it and the boss has put that to us. So we’ll react and be ready for them,” Holman said. “I don’t think people go out there and do things to get yellow cards. They are a real physical side and they want to dominate play in that style.”

An ankle injury will see striker Dimitri Petratos miss a fourth game despite completing two full training sessions this week.

In his absence Jamie McLaren, who remains goalless after three weeks compared with the 20 he scored last season, “is close”.

“Not too far away. Kenny Lowe mentioned (Andy) Keogh saying he wasn’t lacking in confidence or form, just his chances in the first few games didn’t go in. Then he came out and scored a hat-trick,” Aloisi said.

“I see Jamie McLaren is exactly the same … Jamie is a goal scorer. He is going to score goals.”