When Sydney FC travels north to face the Queensland Roar on Saturday night John Kosmina will again be relying on a youthful side to take the points and keep the club’s season alive, but the head coach is confident his young charges can get the job done.
When Sydney FC travels north to face the Queensland Roar on Saturday night John Kosmina will again be relying on a youthful side to take the points and keep the club-s season alive, but the head coach is confident his young charges can get the job done.
Last week the Sky Blues- squad featured eight players under the age of 24, including four teenagers, and it will be a similar looking lineup that looks to silence the Roar at Suncorp Stadium.
“Shannon Cole is out. He copped a knock on his right hip last week that-s bone bruising. He hasn-t trained with the team all week so he won-t travel,” said Kosmina before Friday-s training session.
“I-ll probably look at either Matty Jurman or Robbie Middleby coming straight back in for that spot.”
Following last Sunday-s 1-nil victory against Wellington Phoenix the mood has been up-beat at Sydney FC training this week, with the team knowing it-s a very real chance of qualifying for the finals if it can win its last two games.
“A win makes a big difference so they-ve been a little bit more buoyant. There-s a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, so we-ll go towards it,” explained Kosmina.
Last week-s goal scoring hero, Kofi Danning is expected to be handed his first start by the Sky Blue mentor on Saturday, with youth continuing to get the job done for Sydney during a season badly impacted by injury.
“I don-t know where we would have been without a youth league this year. Where would we have drawn players from?”
“We-ve had injuries that you don-t budget for and opportunities arise, it-s just life, and the kids have taken them, which has been great,” continued the coach.
For Sydney to make the finals it needs to win both of its remaining matches and rely on the Central Coast Mariners to suffer consecutive defeats, but the former Hyundai A-League champions aren-t looking too closely at other results.
“Tonight-s (Friday-s) result (Melbourne v Central Coast) will be what it is and we-ll still go out tomorrow to win the game,” said Kosmina.
The Sky Blues must-win clash with Queensland kicks off at 8pm (Sydney time) on Saturday night at Brisbane-s Suncorp Stadium.
