Chipperfield to get forward on Wednesday

Scott Chipperfield will be given a licence to get forward and create some mayhem on Wednesday night against Qatar and if things go according to plan, he might even find himself on the goalscorers sheet again.

Scott Chipperfield will be given a licence to get forward and create some mayhem on Wednesday night against Qatar and if things go according to plan, he might even find himself on the goalscorers sheet again.

Chippers, as he is affectionately known, was a pretty potent goalscorer in his days at Wollongong Wolves and while he has slowly worked his way towards his own goal, he still remains a threat near the opposition-s goal, as the Uzbekistan players found out last month in Tashkent.

Of all the Australian players, he is probably the one in the best goalscoring touch at the moment, but ironically on Wednesday night at Brisbane Stadium, he is likely to start as left fullback, not a position for a player in form in front of goals.

With four goals next to his name this season, he leads the FC Basel list of scorers, with his club sitting level on top of the Swiss 1st Division table.

But despite his left fullback role, we can still expect to see him in and around the box on Wednesday night and if the chance comes, he won-t hold back.

“Yeah that-s the way he (Pim Verbeek) likes to play,” when asked if he would have a licence to get forward on Wednesday.

“He likes the fullbacks to overlap; push forward and create the extra man. He wants us to get crosses into the box with Josh (Kennedy) or Timmy (Cahill) up front as that-s going to be our strength.

“With my club side I play more in the midfield, so I can get forward a lot more but obviously with the national team it was great to score, as I don-t score many goals for my country.

“To score in an important game like that was obviously a great feeling.”

With Verbeek still playing cat and mouse with respect to his team selections, Chipperfield gave a clue to at least how the left side of the park will be shaping, revealing that David Carney is likely to play in front of him in left midfield, which will provide flexibility, given that both can play either position very well.

“Pim hasn-t specifically said yet, but this morning at training I played as a left fullback with Dave Carney in front, so I guess that-s the way he will be wanting to play on Wednesday night,” he said.

In terms of the central pairing?

“He had (Matt) Spiranovic playing next to Lucas (Neill), so he didn-t want to give too much away. I think he is going to wait till the last minute before he decides.”

After missing the entire previous stage of World Cup qualifiers, Chipperfield is happy to be back in the fold and is enjoying the unique atmosphere of the national team set up.

“I enjoyed the (last) game. It was the first World Cup qualifier for me in this campaign; I missed the first six games, so it was great for me to come back and get the goal.

“Wednesday-s another game; it-s an important game; a home game and I hope I can have another good match and we get the three points.

“Qatar, of course we can-t underestimate them. The last two games we won quite comfortably, but it-s a new game and they-re leading the group at the moment with a win and a draw, so at home its obviously an important game for us to win.

“We-ve just got to go out there and treat it like every game. They-ve got a new coach and a few new players in the squad also, so its going to be a tough game.”

One thing Chipperfield is not too concerned about is the loss of the four key players - Harry Kewell, Mark Bresciano, Vince Grella and Carl Valeri - believing that Australia-s squad depth has improved markedly in his time away.

“Pim-s taken over and he has done a great job,” he said. “New players have come in and I think now there is a lot more depth in the squad; a lot of young players are coming through.

“Training is very competitive; it-s a 28-man squad and everyone is fighting for 18 spots in the game day squad and the 11 starting spots.

“I don-t think so (too concerned); we have a big squad here now; a lot of good players who can cover the players that are out injured or suspended.

“I think the starting eleven team on Wednesday night will be pretty strong.”