After celebrating a comeback victory against the Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday night, Head Coach Graham Arnold will have to start afresh as the Sky Blues host Adelaide United on Tuesday night in the Westfield FFA Cup.
Arnold lauded the supporters for their part in the victory and praised the Sky Blues performance however he’s expecting tough opposition in Josep Gombau’s side who have had an extra day to recover from their Friday night match.
“I think we only had 15 bad minutes and the rest of the game we controlled,” Arnold said.
“The stats showed that Western Sydney had 139 passes for the whole 90 minutes compared to our 500 and I think that showed how dominant we were.
“Our supporters were absolutely brilliant on Saturday night. 2-0 down and they were louder than the Wanderers supporters and they really gave us the encouragement to get back in the game,” he continued.
“Adelaide give you a totally different problem. They’re a good football side and it’s a tough challenge for us and we’re looking forward to it.
“They’ve had a good turnaround from Friday to Tuesday and if it was me I’d have my strongest team out there.”
With such a short turnaround from Saturday night, Arnold confirmed changes to the squad were imminent, however the Championship winning Head Coach still has eyes for the prize as he chases a semi-final berth at Allianz Stadium (kick off 7:30pm).
“I’ll put out the best team available,” he said.
“We’ll have to see how the players go at training and we’ll touch base with the players tomorrow morning to settle on a line-up.
“The FFA Cup is very important. It’s a trophy that’s out there that you want to win and we want to win trophies but as I said we will respect it as high as we can.
“The scheduling hasn’t been greatest for us but that’s what we’ve been dealt and we want to respect the FFA Cup,” he continued.
“It’s a great initiative and in terms of respect I mean playing our best players and for this game we’ll go out with the best players available.”
Sydney FC will fight for a semi-final spot in the inaugural Westfield FFA Cup on Tuesday 21 October at Allianz Stadium (kick off 7:30pm). Purchase your ticket now to ensure you don’t miss a moment of action.
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