Sydney FC Head Coach Graham Arnold has confirmed young star Charles Lokolignoy is set to feature for the first time in the Hyundai A-League on Saturday night at Allianz Stadium.
Along with welcoming back Polish star Adrian Mierzejewski, Arnold has vowed to ‘unleash’ the Sky Blues’ leading PS4 NPL and Foxtel National Youth League goalscorer in some capacity against the Newcastle Jets.
“Over time we increase our standards and we expect our performance will go up a lot tomorrow night,” Arnold said.
“Charlie Lokolingoy is such an exciting prospect, he’ll be unleashed tomorrow night and he’s one I’m sure a lot of fans will be excited about.
“I’ve been waiting and waiting for him to be fit. He’s the leading goalscorer in the NPL, leading goalscorer in the NYL, he’s such an exciting player and he will be a part of the squad.
“We’ve got players that are really pushing for positions now, Adrian is back, and we’ve now got competition for places,” he continued.
“His [Adrian’s] training sessions the last two weeks have been harder than games, that’s the way Andrew Clark and the medical team work here, that the games seem actually easier than the training.
“It was important that instead of him going in and out of the team for a week here and a week there after being in the Middle East that we got him strong and we got him ready.
“He is now and you’ve seen in flashes of the performances that he’s given since he’s been at the club that he’s a very exciting player, top quality as well and we expect him to perform at that level going forward from here.”
Following a first defeat in 19 games, Arnold has called for a reaction from his squad and the Sky Blues’ Head Coach said he expects nothing less than three points come full time.
“The boys have been fantastic, one loss in 19, these things happen, it’s about a reaction and I know I will see a reaction and the fans will see a reaction tomorrow night,” Arnold said.
“It’s early days, we’re round 7, I couldn’t even tell you what the table looks like today, we don’t look at the table, there’s no trophies handed out in the middle of November.
“We’ve had a fantastic training week, the boys have been extremely focussed, they’re making sure that they’re physically ready. Mentally they’re in great shape and we expect to win the game tomorrow night.
“I know what we’re capable of, we’re at Fortress Allianz tomorrow night, it’s our home, it’s a place where we all feel wonderfully comfortable, where we’ve had some fantastic performances and we expect to do that again tomorrow.”
Sydney FC take on the Newcastle Jets (kick off 7:50pm AEDT), following the Westfield W-League squad’s clash against City (kick off 5pm AEDT) at Allianz Stadium in a double header clash on Saturday night. Catch the A-League match live on Fox Sports 501 or follow @SydneyFC on Twitter for updates from both games.
Be at Allianz Stadium this Saturday for Alex Brosque’s record breaking Hyundai A-League appearance and be one of the first 5,000 through the gates to pick up your commemorative Alex Brosque Beard! Get your tickets today and be there to back your Sky Blues!
