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A candid Fahid Ben Khalfallah says Brisbane Roar players -- not coach John Aloisi -- must wear the blame for their horrendous A-League season.
The Roar fell 3-0 to Sydney FC on Monday night, their sixth loss at Suncorp Stadium this season, fourth in a row at home and second in four days.
While Aloisi is clinging to hope their fortunes will change once their injured stars are back, Ben Khalfallah -- who joined the Roar from perennial powerhouse Melbourne Victory last season -- pointed the finger squarely at the playing group in a frank post-match interview.
"I don't want to be rude, but when you miss too many players, it's not the same quality," he told Fox Sports after the final whistle.
"We have to look in the mirror. It's not good enough. It's ridiculous. Seriously.
"It's just the players. The staff, everyone is amazing, but we have to work harder.
"At home, we lost last week. We lose again. I'm done with that.
"I can't accept that. We can't accept that."
Aloisi said he could understand Ben Khalfallah's frustrations and believed the result flattered Sydney -- despite coach Graham Arnold's claims they should have scored as many as 10 goals.
While the Roar did get more balls into the penalty area than the Sky Blues, they were nowhere near as clinical or as solid defensively as Arnold's men. "It's normal, that frustration," said Aloisi, who signed a three-year contract last year.
"We've been under the pump with that for a long time and then the two-day turnaround made it a little bit more difficult tonight.
"It's hard to take, losing. We created just as many openings as them."
The Roar will at least regain two players from suspension for Friday night's away trip to Newcastle Jets -- captain Matt McKay and defender Avraam Papadopoulos.
French attacker Eric Bautheac should also be fit to start after making his return from a hamstring injury off the bench against Sydney while Aloisi hopes Corey Gameiro, a late withdrawal with a groin complaint, will be ready to play.
"One thing we won't do is give up," Aloisi said.
"We still believe if we've got a full-strength squad we beat anyone.
"Even tonight with the players we had out that a little bit more quality, we could have got something out of the game."
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