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Melbourne out to remain undefeated in Queensland clash

Melbourne Victory are chasing ten A-League games without a loss this weekend when they clash with the Queensland Roar at the Telstra Dome on Sunday evening. The Victory's run goes back to Round 18 last season when they beat the Central Coast Mariners 5-2 away and followed it up with another away win at Queensland. This time the Victory are on home soil facing a Roar team that has mixed their form in recent times but the visitors will be looking to turn last week's home loss to Newcastle into three points against the league leaders. Victory coach Ernie Merrick is hoping the game would work the way he wanted by using pace and possession but was wary of a hungry Roar outfit. Merrick said, "We like a team to come at us. I think we've got the ability to both counter-attack and keep possession when we need to. We've got very fast strikers. "Tom Pondeljak is looking even more like a striker than a midfielder. And we're very happy with his progress. Archie's (Thompson) on fire, Danny Allsopp's looking good, Carlos (Hernandez) is terrific, so we've got the firepower to score goals. "I think they are pretty desperate for points. They won't be coming here for a draw. I think they've got a tough match. They've got a midfield that's very busy. Charlie Miller scoring goals. The good thing about Queensland is that they play attacking football as well." Queensland Roar coach Frank Farina has been pleased with his side's recent form and was happy to keep his line-up fairly standard although star midfielder Miller is under a fitness cloud with a groin injury. Farina does expect the Scotland native to start the match and admitted that no extreme changes to the side were likely. He said, "I've been pretty happy with the way that the side's been playing so no need for changes at this stage but that's possible down the line. "Charlie's (Miller) been the most likely to score goals for us so far this season. Hopefully going down there to Melbourne he'll enjoy the big stage as well. "It's a big game but I think it's a good game for us." The Victory will be pleased to have creative midfielder Leigh Broxham back in the squad to provide depth whilst the Roar will be pinning their hopes on Miller who has scored in four of the five games so far this season

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