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Rees closes in on the 100 club

Following knee surgery in the off-season Rees is back to full fitness and came through unscathed after 45 minutes of action last Friday when he replaced the injured Dylan McGowan at half time.

A foundation player with Gold Coast, the 31-year-old has been a fixture in the heart of the defence for three seasons and with Ante Rozic ruled out for another week, Rees will resume his partnership with Michael Thwaite in United’s rearguard.

The veteran defender, who started his Hyundai A-League career with Adelaide before shifting to Wellington Phoenix and eventually Gold Coast, said he didn’t even realise he had just two matches to go before he reached his century.

“It’s not something I’ve kept track of to be honest, but I guess it’s good that I’ve been around in the Hyundai A-League that long to rack up this many matches, the majority being with Gold Coast United,” he said.

“I’ve really enjoyed playing for Gold Coast and being at the club, so hopefully I can celebrate the milestone coming up with a win on Sunday.

“In the early years of the competition we weren’t playing too many games per season, so it takes a while to accumulate a milestone total of matches, but I’m just glad to be a part of it and do this for a living.”

While the veteran defender didn’t expect to get a full half game under his belt against Brisbane, he says the solid run did him the world of good, giving his repaired knee the workout it needed.

As United seek their first victory of the campaign, a solid defensive performance is very much high on the agenda.

“Getting 45 minutes in last week was good for me but obviously disappointing for the team. It’s good to be back though and I just want to focus on playing my part in what will hopefully be our first win for the season,” Rees said.

“It’s been a fairly long recovery since my operation in pre-season so I’m just glad to be back playing again. I didn’t feel any problems with my knee so that’s good for my confidence in that I know I’ve recovered fully.

“There are no easy games in the Hyundai A-League and Newcastle have been going well and we know they will make it tough for us so we have to be tight at the back. They’ve got their new coach taking the reins this week and that will probably give them an additional lift.

“The important thing for us is to be positive and take the game to the Jets. We’ve been a bit unlucky a few times in each of our first three matches and if one or two things had gone our way then our results could have been different.

“It’s been a bit frustrating but we just have to continue the hard work on the training field and make sure that if things don’t go our way from time to time we’re not already chasing the game.

“It’s vital for us to win our home games and everyone knows this is an important fixture for us. Once we have our first win on the board we will be off and running. Hopefully I can help us keep a clean sheet and if we can do that we have every chance of getting the right result.”

There was good news today regarding another of United’s defenders with Dylan McGowan passed fit to resume full training.

McGowan limped off at half time against Brisbane with a knee injury after colliding with Henrique but has recovered from his knock and is back in contention for a starting place, especially as young full-back Josh Brillante will be away on international duty.