Joel King has assured fans that the departure of Melbourne City’s Premiership-winning Coach, Rado Vidosic, doesn’t phase the Sky Blues as they look to defeat City on Friday night.
Earlier this morning, Melbourne City’s Premiership-winning coach, Rado Vidosic, parted ways with the club; however King, who is set to play his first game since returning from a calf injury, said the arrival of new Head Coach Aurelio Vidmar won’t matter either way.
“It’s a tough time to verse City…maybe Vidmar could change a few players or change the way they play, but it doesn’t change our plans, so we are going to focus on ourselves, and hopefully, we can come out with three points.”
City are coming off a 6-0 defeat to Adelaide United but King believes there’s no need to fear a rebound.
“We had a defeat against Brisbane as well, and that hurt a lot, it really hurt, so we are going to be very hungry to get the three points and the boys are ready for it.”
After suffering a calf injury which saw the Socceroo left-back miss three matches for the Sky Blues, including the Australia Cup Final and the opening two A-League fixtures,he said he’s ready to come back.
“In our cup game against City, I came down with a calf injury, and it was the first injury of my career, so it’s been pretty tough.”
“I missed a few important games in the Cup, and it’s been disappointing watching the boys take two losses in the previous weeks, but I’m excited to get back out there.”
King will look to build fitness after turning 23 on Monday.
“I had a big day of training and gym, and in the afternoon, I went out for dinner with a few of the boys.”
“I had a good time, and now I’m ready for the game.”
Goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne will feature in his 200th game for the club this Friday and will face Socceroo teammate Jamie Maclaren, who missed a penalty last week against Adelaide United.
King says his Socceroos Qatar World Cup roommate fully deserves the recognition of being the sixth Sydney FC player to reach 200 games.
“Ever since I came into the first team, he’s helped me out a lot; to see him play his 200th game will be pretty special, and hopefully, we can celebrate with a win.”
“He’s one of my best mates, and he actually came out to dinner with me [for my birthday].”
The game will be King’s 85th appearance alongside his good friend.
Match Details:
Melbourne City vs Sydney FC
Izuzu-UTE A-League Round Three
Friday 3rd November, 2023
AAMI Park, Melbourne, VIC
Kick Off: 7:45pm AEDT
Gates Open: 6:45 AEDT
Broadcast Live: Paramount+.
Tickets: Click here.
