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Brisbane's disappointing A-League start is not where they want to be but the Roar's board are sticking by coach John Aloisi. Sunday's 2-0 loss to Newcastle has left the Roar second-last on the competition ladder with just one win from seven games. Only winless Central Coast, who have made the worst start in A-League history, stand below the Roar. It's a long way from the start of the season when the Roar came in with high hopes after a drama-free preseason and the recruitment of several new faces such as striker Adam Taggart, Australian under-23 international Stefan Mauk and Spanish midfielder Alex Lopez. Roar vice-chairman Christopher Fong said results so far have been nowhere near expectations but the board are confident the season is far from a write-off. "There's a lot of pressure on the playing group and the football department to perform better than they have," Fong told AAP. "Not just from the board, but I think from themselves. "It's still early days. We certainly have a good roster on paper, there's just something missing and we're confident that John's going to pull it around. "Certainly didn't expect to be where we are to date from the beginning of the season but it's a long-term view. It's disappointing but it's not over yet. The support's still there." The Roar face in-form Melbourne Victory on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium. In contrast to Brisbane's struggles, the Victory have won five matches on the trot to climb to second on ladder with overseas players Keisuke Honda and Ola Toivonen leading the way for the defending A-League champions. Roar captain Matt McKay believes the challenge of ending their poor run with a shock result over the Victory is just the sort of inspiration his team needs. "Victory are a strong test for us but we're very capable of doing well against them," the ex-Socceroo said. "We've done it in the past. We've got a strong record at Suncorp Stadium, so we'll get on our home turf and give our all out there." McKay also dismissed the suggestion the Roar's season was imploding after such a poor start. "The last two weeks we've had good performances and not got results so it's just about our collective working together again," he said. "We're seven games into the season. There's 27 games. It's not panic stations ... we're all in it together, the whole club ... this club is going to fight and get to where we belong." The Roar will be boosted by talismanic striker Taggart completing training on Tuesday after having to come off the bench against the Jets due to a groin niggle. Attacking midfielder Mauk also trained as he continues to recover from a concussion sustained in a 2-1 loss to Adelaide.
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