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Thwaite: We must concentrate on our performance

The club captain revealed today that he sat with the rest of the squad earlier in the week and shared a few of his own personal experiences in an effort to help and inspire his teammates.

His Gold Coast outfit face Melbourne Heart this Friday evening at Skilled Park knowing a win will do wonders for their confidence, but he says everyone must be focussed on their performance rather than the result.

“It’s frustrating but the results will come if we focus on how we want to play and not think about winning, losing or drawing; only about performance,” Thwaite said.

“During the week I sat the team down and talked them through a few of my own personal experiences. Whether it’s been playing in the Youth League, sitting on the bench, in the stands, being injured or having to do rehab – I just gave them a bit of an insight into how I conquered those situations and essentially it all comes down to hard work.

“That’s how I’ve conquered any adversity in my career – here at Gold Coast, at Melbourne Victory and in Romania – it’s all about working hard - it’s the simplest answer to most problems in football.

“I’ve been bashing my head against the wall about our league position. We’ve set higher standards at this club in terms of our performance so of course it plays on our minds. We’ve rarely been out of the top four since we entered the league.

“But we have a new squad as everyone knows and we’re learning more about each other every week. We’ve worked hard on our structure all week to try and stop the goals we’ve been leaking and for me that’s what we have to keep doing – working harder and harder,” he said.

If Gold Coast are to take the points from their visitors they will have to do it without leading scorer James Brown and young defender Dylan Macallister, who are both on international duty with the Olyroos. Also in doubt is another of United’s impressive youngsters with winger Ben Halloran suffering a knee injury at training during the week.

Head Coach Miron Bleiberg remains hopeful that Halloran will continue to improve over the next 24 hours and will give the 19-year-old every chance to prove his fitness, but only rated him as a 50% chance today.

“We have two boys who are with the Olyroos and Ben Halloran is 50/50 at the moment with a knock he picked up in training, but we are still hoping about him and we see how he is on the day,” Bleiberg said.

“If he can’t play then we have to make at least three changes to last week’s team. We have options despite the current situation and it will give opportunities to others as it always does. For example, Mitch Bevan did very well when he came on against Adelaide and he made a difference. If I decide to use him again he will be ready and up for the challenge.

“We are feeling good, the mood is good and we know we have to improve. We have to try hard to turn things around and not rely on a change of fortune. Hard work is the key and the whole league is tight so a few points can make a big difference.

“I prefer to play against teams who have just won, rather than teams who have just lost. A wounded animal is a dangerous one and hopefully Melbourne Heart will be drunk with happiness,” he smiled.

Hyundai A-League Week 7 – Friday 18 November 2011

GOLD COAST UNITED v MELBOURNE HEART

At Skilled Park, Gold Coast

Kick off: 7.00pm (QLD)

Referee: Peter O'Leary

Twitter: #HALgcumh

Gold Coast United squad:

1.Glen Moss [gk], 2.Josh Brillante, 3.Michael Thwaite (c), 4.Zac Anderson, 5.Kristian Rees, 6.Paul Beekmans, 7.Golgol Mebrahtu, 8.Robson, 10.Tahj Minniecon, 12.Dylan Macallister, 14.Ben Halloran, 15.Adama Traore, 16.Maceo Rigters, 20.Jerrad Tyson [gk], 21.Daniel Severino, 22.Peter Jungschlager, 29.Mitch Bevan.

*two to be omitted*

In: 2.Josh Brillante (promoted), 7.Golgol Mebrahtu (promoted), 10.Tahj Minniecon (promoted), 21.Daniel Severino (promoted).

Out: 18.James Brown, 23.Dylan McGowan (both Olyroos duty).

Unavailable: 9.Joel Porter (calf – 4 weeks), 13.Ante Rozic (knee – 3 weeks), 19.Chris Broadfoot (ankle injury – 6 weeks).

Melbourne Heart squad:

1.Clint Bolton [gk], 2.Michael Marrone, 3.Brendan Hamill, 4.Simon Colosimo, 5.Fred (c), 6.Matt Thompson, 7.Rutger Worm, 8.Kristian Sarkies, 9.Maycon, 10.Wayne Srhoj, 13.Jonatan Germano, 15.David Williams, 18.Curtis Good, 19.Eli Babalj, 25.Adrian Madaschi, 30.Sebastian Mattei.

In: Rutger Worm (promoted), Kristian Sarkies (promoted), David Williams (promoted), Curtis Good (returns from international duty).

Out: Aziz Behich (international duty), Jason Hoffman (international duty), Mate Dugandzic (international duty), Alex Terra (injury).

Unavailable: Alex Terra - Hamstring (2-3 weeks), Nick Kalmar - Back (4 weeks), Kamal Ibrahim (ankle -3 weeks), Kliment Taseski (foot - long term).