Brisbane Roar defender Josh McCloughan is fit and ready for tomorrow night's pre-season clash with North Queensland Fury. The centre-back will be playing his first game since tearing his groin on the eve of last season's A-League finals and is looking forward to being back out on the pitch.

"Those two or three weeks that I missed were probably the most painful two or three weeks of football in my life," McCloughan said.

"But it's all behind us now and we're looking forward to our new preparation.

"You always want to play good opposition just to test where you're at," he added.

"With North Queensland being unknown and as one of our first real tests of the season I think it's going to be a game to look forward to.

"I'm expecting them to be quite strong up there."