BRISBANE Roar won their first game of the season, but skipper Matt McKay concedes there’s still plenty to do to win back the hearts of the club’s fans.

Having missed the Roar’s first-up 3-1 away win over Western Sydney last Thursday because of Socceroos commitments, McKay is eager to contribute when Brisbane host Central Coast Mariners at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday.

McKay is just as keen for a sizeable home crowd, but admits he isn’t expecting the fans’ off-season disenchantment with the financially embattled club to magically disappear on the back of one victory.

“It’s a bit of an unknown really, getting out to Suncorp (Stadium) and seeing how many people we get,” McKay said on Monday.

“I want a good crowd. We’ve had so much success this past five years … but we did so much damage (in the off-season).

“It’s going to be a slow process. We’re not going to go straight to having everyone back on side … but good support really helps us. I think we’ve got some great fans.

“It was a really positive start last week and that hopefully increases our crowd and support. If we keep working hard on and off the field, we can slowly bridge the gap and be back to where we should be.”

McKay watched the first half of the Roar’s win on a laptop computer in Amman hours before the Socceroos’ shock 2-0 loss to Jordan, and was impressed with what he saw on the small screen.

“It was obviously a disappointing result (for Australia) over there but a really good result for us (Brisbane) on Thursday night,” he said.

“Typically we do start the season really well. You saw last season when we didn’t start well how much it affects our overall position at the end of the season.”

The Roar lost their first four matches last season, with coach Mike Mulvey sacked just six weeks into Brisbane’s failed title defence.

“Points on the board early is important, but we’ve got to get our performances right,” McKay said.

“We know it’s a 27-game season. It’s a real positive start. We played some good stuff but we’ve also got a lot to improve on.”

Former Socceroo Jade North didn’t train on Monday for the second session in succession, with the Roar desperate to have him fresh and fit for Sunday in the ongoing injury-enforced absence of fellow central defenders James Donachie and Luke DeVere.

Sunday’s match is part of a double-header, with the Roar’s W-League team kicking off their season against Canberra United in the early match.