For most of the Sydney FC squad Saturday’s round four clash with Newcastle will be just another step on the road to the title, but for two members of the team it’s a much-anticipated match.
For most of the Sydney FC squad Saturday-s round four clash with Newcastle will be just another step on the road that will hopefully lead to a Hyundai A-League Championship, but for two members of the team it-s a much-anticipated match they-ve had marked on their calendars for months.
Last-season Mark Bridge and Stuart Musialik were members of the Jets team that took the title, with Bridge firing home the winner in the Grand Final against the Central Coast Mariners.
This-season the Olympic representatives are members of John Kosmina-s powerful Sydney squad, and they-re expecting a ‘warm- reception on their return to Energy Australia Stadium.
“From the boys I-m not really expecting bad a reaction,” said Musialik.”I-m still good friends with the majority of them but from the fans, I-m not expecting the best reaction, no.”
“I think I-ll definitely get booed when I walk out on the field,” added Bridge.
The in-form striker says he won-t be fazed by the crowd however, and he-s focused on just one thing.
“Old team, old stomping ground, looking forward to it, looking forward to seeing all the boys and beating them.”
Since joining the Sky Blues the pair have become an integral part of the FC team, and their new coach is impressed with what he-s seen since they returned from the Beijing Games.
“They-re both real good pros and you know they-re really happy where they are at the moment, I think they-re actually looking forward to playing against their old club, I think it-ll be interesting to see how they react. “
Sydney and Newcastle have enjoyed very different starts to the season with FC chasing its third-straight victory and the Jets yet to celebrate a win.
In their last start the Novocastrians fell to a five goal defeat against Melbourne, but for Bridge the focus is on his own side, which put five of its own past Perth a fortnight ago.
“We-re playing good, the combinations are starting to come along, Johnny-s back, Poppa-s back, training-s looked sharp all week,” he said. “I think the more we play together the better the combinations will be, the more attractive football we-ll play.”
Saturday-s match gets underway in Newcastle at 7pm.
