<
>

Brisbane can cope with busy A-League, Champions League schedule - Oar

Tommy Oar is confident that Brisbane Roar can stay competitive on two fronts as their A-League and Asian Champions League campaigns collide.

The Roar will play three games in six days at Suncorp Stadium starting with Saturday night's clash against Western Sydney, which will be followed by a Champions League playoff next Tuesday, and a meeting with Sydney FC three days later.

Brisbane's Champions League opponent will be either Filipino club Global FC or Singapore's Tampines Rovers, who will fight it out on Tuesday night in Manila, for the right to take on the Roar.

"For us the focus is purely on this weekend first -- one game at a time. After that, we'll shift our focus," Oar told reporters.

"It's important not to get too far ahead of ourselves. We go into every game very prepared and [the coaches] give us all the information we need to know. I'm sure that game will be no different."

Should the Roar win their first playoff, they'll take on Carlos Tevez's new Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua away on Feb. 7 for a spot in the Champions League group stage -- then fly down to face Melbourne City at AAMI Park four days later.

The Roar have already threatened to send out a second-string team against City in protest of Football Federation Australia's refusal to reschedule any of their matches.

But Oar believes they'll be fit enough to cope, despite some concerns from the club surrounding player fatigue.

"The way we train, the heat here and the intensity that we train at, most of the boys say this is the fittest they've ever been," he said.

Keen to test themselves against an Australian opponent before next week, Shanghai Shenhua have invited NSW Premier League club Sydney United 58 to China for a training camp and friendly match on Saturday.

Brisbane, meanwhile, will welcome back Brett Holman from injury this week.

The 32-year-old has missed the Roar's past eight matches after undergoing minor surgery on his knee, but is due to return against Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday.

"Obviously Brett's quality. Everyone knows what he brings to the table, he's got a lot of experience and with a busy period coming up, it's fantastic to have players like him coming back in," Oar said.