Brisbane Strikers v Melbourne City FC

Brisbane Strikers v Melbourne City FC

Wednesday 24 August 2016

Perry Park, Bowen Hills (QLD)

Kick-off:  7:30pm local (7:30pm AEST)

Referee: Peter Green

Assistant Referee 1: David Walsh

Assistant Referee 2: Anton Shchetinin

Fourth Official: Jarred Gillett

Brisbane Strikers squad:  1.Sebastian Usai (gk), 2.Chris Maher, 3.Tomas Ross, 4.Jake Marshall, 5.Greig Henslee, 6.Fraser Hills, 7.Felli Sheriff, 8.Michael Angus, 9.Rhys Meredith, 11.Jonti Richter, 12.Shaun Carlos, 13.Sam Knight, 14.Jake McLean, 15.Jesse Weimers, 16.Fraser Stevens, 17.Hiroki Omori, 18.Trent Clulow, 19.Luke Marsh, 20.Michael Weier (gk), 21.Sam Johnson, 24.Ryan Palmer, 25.Lachlan Weier

Melbourne City FC squad:  1.Thomas Sorensen (gk), 2.Manny Muscat, 3.Josh Rose, 4.Connor Chapman, 6.Osama Malik, 8.Neil Kilkenny, 11.Bruce Kamau, 12.Nick Fitzgerald, 14.Daniel Arzani, 17.Tim Cahill, 18.Paulo Retre, 20.Dean Bouzanis (gk), 21.Ruon Tongyik, 23.Bruno Fornaroli, 26.Luke Brattan, 28.Steve Kuzmanovski, 29.Anthony Caceres, 27.Fernando Brandan, 34.Denis Genreau, 36.Austin Wong, 35.Bradley Clarke, 30.Connor Metcalfe, 37.Yusuf  Ahmed, 38.Jordon Hall, 40.Yaren Sozer (gk)

In their third straight year in the Westfield FFA Cup, the Strikers will finally get to host a match at their home ground Perry Park.

And what a fixture it is with Hyundai A-League club Melbourne City – fresh from signing Caltex Socceroo Tim Cahill – coming to town for what will be a ripper night in Brisbane.

Whether Cahill – who hasn’t played a competitive match for over a month – will feature in the squad or not, this will be a clash not to be missed.

Even without the Socceroos' greatest-ever scorer, City possess a star-studded squad that will be heavily favoured to progress to the last 16. But the Strikers (a former NSL club) will relish the chance to make their mark on the national stage again.

It should be noted that the Strikers – coached by Kevin A’Herne-Evans – secured the PS4 NPL title in Queensland just over a week ago so will approach this challenge full of confidence.

They also spanked Rovers Darwin 6-0 in the Top End in the Round of 32 with six different scorers, underlining a real strength all over the park.