Sydney FC are bracing for a Brisbane rebound with new coach Ben Cahn at the Roar helm for his first A-League match on Saturday night at Suncorp Stadium.
The Roar are coming off a humbling 8-1 loss to Melbourne City in late December, which hastened this week's appointment of Cahn as they look to rescue their season.
Ufuk Talay, who replaced Steve Corica as the Sky Blues coach three games into this season, said he expected a lift from the Brisbane players as they looked to impress their new boss.
He described the seven-goal loss, which equalled a competition record, as "irrelevant" with the team transitioning from the departure of former coach Ross Aloisi.
"With the change of coach it's a clean slate for all of those players," Talay said.
"Generally when a new coach comes in the players are buzzing because there's opportunities to cement their spot within the team and they will definitely be up for it.
"It's going to be a difficult game - the first 15 to 20 minutes it will probably be a very high-intensity game with the coach changing."
Brisbane won their last clash against Sydney FC in October 3-0 and have tasted victory in three of their last four A-League Men meetings between the teams.
While Sydney FC are sitting ninth, one place behind the Roar, they can take some confidence from their 3-1 victory over ladder-leaders Wellington in their last outing.
Talay praised his team's defensive effort in the first half to help set up the win although he wants to see a more clinical display in the final third.
"It was a good performance especially in the first half, without the ball we had some good pressing moments and with the ball we created some chances from those presses we put on our opponents," he said.
"We want to play a high-intensity game and we saw that, especially for 45 minutes, and some moments in the second half when we capitalised on that pressure to win the ball and scored the last two goals to win the game.
"The players are starting to comprehend the way we want to play ... you can definitely see a massive change in the group."
Talay said they would welcome back young midfielder Corey Hollman, who had been sidelined with illness.
