Words: Steve Pitman
Image: Pine Creek Pictures

Brisbane Strikers captain Michael Angus says his side is taking nothing for granted against Northern Fury this weekend despite the possibility of wrapping up the Premiership title.

Strikers require four points from their final three matches to wrap up their maiden PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland Premiership.

However, should second-placed FNQ Heat fail to defeat Moreton Bay United on Saturday night then a win against Fury will suffice for the Strikers.

On paper, the league-leaders should have little trouble accounting for a Fury side that has yet to post a win in 20 matches during the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues season.

However, Townsville has proved an unhappy hunting ground for Strikers the past two seasons, and Angus knows he and his teammates cannot afford to be complacent.

“It’s like every game. We will take it as seriously as any other game. The preparation will be exactly like we would for anyone,” Angus said.

“If you look at last year, we went up there and didn’t get a very good result and it was an important game within the league (context) as well. So there will be no complacency or anything like that from us.”

“We know how important the game is and if we can prepare in the right way, and worry about us and do what we need to do, then by all means we can hopefully go up there and get the result.”

Strikers were humbled 5-2 at Townsville Sports Reserve last year, but Angus says that result will not weigh on the mind of Strikers this time around.

“The difference from last year is that we’ve had a week to prepare properly for it,” he explained.

“Last year was a quick turnaround from an FFA Cup game (against Hume City in Melbourne), so we’ll be fit and raring to go.”

“But we obviously know the importance of it and we’ve got a bit more experience this year in our squad that can deal with those sorts of situations – which I think has shown this year.”

Angus added that despite the Heat-Jets clash scheduled to conclude midway through his side’s fixture, knowing that result will play no part in how they perform against Fury.

“It’s in our hands, so I’d much rather be prepping and worrying about our game and not really knowing about it, to be honest,” Angus said.

“In the past we’ve thought about other results a little bit too much and it’s come back to bite us a bit.”

“But I think we’ve learned from previous experiences and this year we’ve got the players who’ve gone through that from last year and have more experience with that side of things,” he concluded.

PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2016 – Round 21

Northern Fury FC v Brisbane Strikers FC
Saturday, August 13 | 7:00PM
Townsville Sports Reserve, Townsville