While not missing any players through injury, Head Coach Graham Arnold is ruing the loss of defender Jacques Faty for the Sky Blues trip to face Perth Glory on Saturday at nib Stadium (kick off 7:30pm AEDT).
Faty will miss the trip west through personal reasons and Arnold said that while Sydney FC will cope performance wise in the absence of the French-Senegalese centre half it will be his leadership skills that are missed the most.
“[The] injury situation is zero, just Jacques Faty is unavailable,” Arnold said.
“It’s for personal reasons. He’ll be back in the country on Saturday and ready for the Wellington game.
“I’ve got two choices [at centre back]. Seb Ryall who’s played a lot at centre back for us, or Zac Anderson, so pretty much I’ll decide after today.
“It’s a blow to lose his leadership so other players will have to step up in the leader ship role that Jacques is so good at. I’ve got 100% faith in everyone so on the field performance wise we’ll be ok.
“Any team that’s coached by Kenny Lowe is hard to play against,” he continued.
“You look at the reality of what happened last year, they were up the top all the way through until their issues. They’re a strong side, good foreigners, foreigners take time to settle and they get better and better.”
Arnold said the warm weather in Sydney could be a blessing in disguise ahead of the trip to Western Australia as he revealed that his management style of keeping the players happy might play a part in the Sky Blues unprecedented away record in regular season matches.
“It’s tough [the heat],” Arnold said.
“It’s more of a psychological battle in those types of conditions but it’s been warm here in Sydney this week so it’s decent preparation for what we’re going to be up against.
“It’s probably going to be down to who can keep the ball the best. If we can keep the ball and make them run, hopefully they run out of legs.
“The method of my management is keep people happy and if people are happy they can perform to the best of their ability,” he continued.
“I think it’s just because we enjoy each other’s company. On away trips we make good fun of it as well, it brings the boys together, they bond together well and our away form has been outstanding and it’ll continue on Saturday night.
“It’s our first time out of New South Wales. It’ll be good to get away.”
Sydney FC take on Perth Glory at nib Stadium on Saturday 21 November (kick off 7:30pm AEDT). Catch the game live on Fox Sports 4, listen live on ABC Grandstand or follow @SydneyFC on Twitter for match updates.
Sydney FC Memberships are still on sale for the 2015/16 season. Click HERE to become part of the Sky Blues family !
