Sydney FC Head Coach Ufuk Talay has emphasised how important the next week of fixtures are starting with Saturday night’s clash in South Australia against Adelaide United.
Coming off the back of last week’s defeat to Melbourne City, Sydney FC head to Adelaide for a must win game, as both teams sit side by side on the table, meaning a win for the Sky Blues would catapult them into the top six.
“We did the review of the Melbourne City game, and we went through things that we did well and the things that we didn’t do well, and what we didn’t do well was our mentality and attitude.
“We have an important game ahead of us against a good opposition, who are three points ahead of us on the table.
“We’ve got five games to go to pick up maximum points to get ourselves in a good position, leading to finals football,” Talay said.
Sydney FC currently sit 7th on the Isuzu UTE A-League ladder with a chance to push to 6th this Saturday away in Adelaide.
Capturing the three points would set Ufuk Talay’s side up for a strong A-League finish and a positive outlook leading into their Semi Final First Leg against Singapore’s Lion City Sailors.
“We want to do well in our local competition, and obviously we’ve got one eye, leading after the Adelaide game on a flight to Singapore to get a good result away from home.
“That will give us our best chance when we do play the second leg at home to play a final.
“We’ll have a couple of days there on the grass before we play against a good opposition, but firstly let’s get through Adelaide.”
A short turn around will see Sydney FC fly to Singapore this Sunday from Adelaide to prepare for their AFC Champions League Two contest with the Lion City Sailors.
They will be looking to take home a positive result with the second leg a week later at the Sydney Football Stadium.
With that in mind, Talay revealed that he may not risk certain players with the matches coming thick and fast while his captain returns from suspension.
“[Leo Sena] will possibly be available for the game on Saturday, will see how we can utilise him, or if we protect him again, for a very important game on Wednesday.
“Joel’s [King] been good, he’s been modified during the week, but he’s been training, so he’ll be available for selection as well.
“[Rhyan Grant] has been, very influential alongside Alex Grant there, and has given us that experience in our back line that we needed.”
Despite the tough run of games, the Sky Blues continue to not look too far into the future,
“We’ve got to take it game by game.
“I think the biggest challenge in front of us now is Adelaide away from home, we need to get a positive outcome there so we can put ourselves in good stride for the A-League.
“Firstly, let’s get through Adelaide, focus on that, and we take it game by game,” he concluded.
Sydney FC face Adelaide United on Saturday night for a must win game for their A-League finals hopes.
