Brisbane Roar coach Warren Moon is hopeful of getting both his new star creator and key goalscorer on the park against Sydney FC next week to reverse a six-game winless streak in the A-League Men.
Robbie Kruse is expected to play his much-awaited first game for the club he debuted for in 2007 next Saturday, after the former Socceroo winger missed the 2-1 home loss to Central Coast on Friday night due to the birth of his second child.
New Serbian striker Stefan Scepovic played the last quarter against the Mariners off the bench and added spark on his debut for the club.
The Roar started 2023 with a 1-0 win away over Melbourne Victory. They looked like a team that was finals bound, despite goals being hard to come by.
But the last six rounds have yielded just one competition point with one draw and five losses, leaving the Roar in 10th. They could finish the round at least two wins outside the top six.
With just 12 goals so far in 16 games, the worst in the ALM, the Roar need to start scoring.
It is a fact not lost on Moon.
"There are a lot of good players that are about to be available for us that we want to get match fitness but they are not ready to start," he said.
"I think we will see next week Robbie will be available. Stefan had minutes (against Central Coast) ... so hopefully he will be in a better condition physically to play more minutes next week.
"My frustration is that there is a nucleus of a good team here but we can't quite get them all on the park at the moment at the right time.
"I am disappointed with that because it wasn't so long ago we were third with a game in hand and now we have a battle on our hands to fight our way back to close to the six.
"We have to work and fight our way out of this. One result could change things. The A-League can change quickly."
Moon has been unhappy with on-field officiating that has gone against his side in the last two losses.
He has expressed his unhappiness after games on those matters, but he also has acknowledged the Roar must improve the things they can control.
