Sydney FC Head Coach Graham Arnold believes Tuesday night’s inaugural FFA Cup clash against Melbourne City in Ballarat (kick off 7:30pm) will prove a good gauge of where his squad are at, ahead of kick off for the 2014/15 Hyundai A-League season in October.
The Sky Blues, eight weeks into their preseason, will be looking to sound out their opposition whom they face in two months-time at Allianz Stadium while Arnold praised the concept of the FFA Cup as an opportunity to showcase Hyundai A-League football to locations that would otherwise not see the games.
“For me it’s a good game to go and play,” Arnold said.
“It’s good opportunity to test ourselves a bit more and make sure we get some more minutes into our legs. It gives me a good opportunity to look at the depth of the squad as well.
“It’s a good experience and a good opportunity to take the A-League to a country town like Ballarat,” he continued.
“It gives the people the chance to see an A-League game up close and live, it’s a great concept to have the FFA Cup and it’s good to have a meaningful competition in such a long offseason.”
While a cup competition may be uncharted territory for some, one Sky Blue who can draw on past experiences is Pedj Bojic, who played nine times in the English FA Cup, scoring one goal in the process, for Northampton Town.
The Sky Blues right back is expecting a good game as he echoed his Head Coach’s praise of the newly established competition.
“It’s always a fun time, everyone knows what the FA Cup is about and what they’ve introduced here is a good thing,” Bojic said.
“It’s going to be a great game and it’s a good thing for Australian Football that we’ve introduced this other cup.
“Everyone’s positive and on board, everyone’s really excited and looking forward to the start of the season and seeing where we can take it with Sydney,” he continued.
“We’re seven or eight weeks into preseason so we’re just looking at building on our philosophy, and what Arnie’s brought into the club and playing to the style that we want. If you win it’s fantastic and you always want to go out and win.”
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