Brisbane coach Warren Moon has indicated he didn't get the work rate he wanted from certain players earlier in the A-League Men season as the Roar attempt to finish their tough campaign with a bang.
The Roar sit eight points outside the top six, with their finals hopes all but extinguished, but frustrated Melbourne Victory with their defensive discipline in a hard-fought 0-0 draw on Tuesday night.
Moon praised his youngsters and indicated his squad selection on Tuesday night had centred around hard workers.
"It's just called hard work. If I'm honest, it's probably at times let us down this year with certain individuals," he said.
"But the players we've put out on the park (tonight) are able to do that for us.
"They're able to work hard for longer periods and when they fatigue we brought young players on, more mobile players to continue the good work and keep our defensive structure and just work hard.
"Tonight was great because we showed some real resilience."
Moon later reiterated his focus on hard work and mobility.
"My message has been really clear to my group. I've been asking it and whether everyone has been getting the message I don't know," he said.
"Maybe they think they have, our results are probably there for all to see.
"We're not happy with where we're at: we want to be pushing and challenging for finals. We're not at this stage, but ... we've been clear with our messaging.
"Those that want to work will play. Those that don't, won't.
"It's clear with the squad I picked, the people that travelled, there's a lot of mobility, a lot of work rate and a lot of desire to do well defensively for the team as well as do well with the ball and that's critical for us as a club."
Moon planned to take the same gritty approach into 10th-placed Brisbane's final five regular-season fixtures, starting with Friday's clash with Macarthur FC, where heavy rotation is likely.
"If we get anything out of the next couple of matches it's experience for our younger players - but we're not conceding anything," he said.
"We're going to go out and try to win every game we play."
