Words: Steve Pitman
Image: Getty Images

Brisbane Strikers captain Jonti Richter expects a taxing ninety minutes on Saturday when his side host league leaders Western Pride at Perry Park.

Pride have notched two wins from two games and Richter says the age profile of their team and the football know-how of their new coach should guarantee the Strikers a busy night.

“They’ll be quite confident with their couple of results so far this season. Obviously they are putting something together on the park,” Richter explained.

“A good friend of mine, Karl Dodd, is their coach now and I know he is very professional and he will leave no stone unturned.”

“I’m pretty sure he will have been there watching us last weekend and he’s got great experience at high level so I’m sure he’s got his team well drilled.”

Richter proved instrumental in securing Strikers the three points in the previous PlayStation® 4 NPL Queensland meeting between the sides - curling home the winning goal directly from a corner kick for a dramatic 4-3 win.

“Sometimes you get lucky with some of those, but if you don’t go for them they don’t come off,” Richter laughed when recalling the moment.

He quickly added, “But at the same time if I’d whipped that corner and it had just gone out for a goal kick I would have looked like a really silly player.”

Strikers are undefeated with a win and a draw from their first two PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland matches in 2015, however Richter said there was still plenty of room for improvement from the two-time Semi Finalists.

“We’ve been quite competitive, which I suppose is the main thing, but in some ways I think we’re still trying to work out our best eleven and also our best formation,” Richter said.

“Trying to get a clean sheet – which is something we try every week but unfortunately haven’t achieved yet - is obviously a big thing,” he concluded.