Brisbane Roar coach Warren Moon is adamant his team's goalscoring drought is nothing to worry about, but veteran striker Scott McDonald won't be on hand to help them end it for the next few weeks.
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The Roar have gone goalless in their past three matches - against Sydney, Newcastle and Macarthur.
The lean trot is in stark contrast to earlier this season when the Roar plundered 13 goals during a four-match winning streak.
Brisbane will have the chance to end their mini rut when they take on Perth Glory at HBF Park on Friday night.
But McDonald won't be part of the action after injuring his hamstring in last week's 0-0 draw with Sydney, with Moon expecting the 37-year-old to miss several weeks.
The pressure is on Brisbane to get back on the scoresheet this week and Moon feels the goals will soon come.
"Obviously we'd like to score, and we haven't scored in three. But we're still creating the same amount of chances per match and we're in the areas where we can score," Moon said.
"As long as we're doing that, I'm happy. I'm not looking at the fact that we haven't scored as an issue. It's more an issue when we're not getting anywhere near the goal and creating chances."
Glory have conceded a whopping 2.4 goals per game this season.
But they've also been extremely potent in attack, scoring an average of three goals per game across their five matches, three of which have been wins.
Moon knows his team have to be on guard defensively this Friday, but says the Roar can hurt Perth going the other way.
Glory only got out of home quarantine last weekend with their last match being the 2-1 win over Adelaide on February 5.
Striker Andy Keogh is expected to play against Brisbane despite injuring his groin against Adelaide.
Keogh battled a soft tissue injury earlier in the season and Glory coach Richard Garcia will take a careful approach with the 34-year-old.
"It's about maybe just taking the foot off the pedal a bit with him and making sure we manage him right and make sure he builds up the football element of his game," Garcia said.
Glory's new recruits - former Japanese international Kosuke Ota and former Bundesliga defender Sebastian Langkamp - are out of hotel quarantine but will need to train for several weeks before being considered for selection.
Australian Associated Press
