Sky Blues attacking weapon Adrian Segecic continues to push for starting berth
A rising Sky Blues star is mounting a strong case to be a regular member of Sydney FC’s starting team.
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Sydney FC coach Ufuk Talay admits super sub Adrian Segecic deserves to be starting for the Sky Blues but says the young attacker’s impact off the bench is a key part of his side’s game plan.
Segecic scored twice in Sydney’s 2-2 AFC Champions League Two round-of-16, first-leg draw with Thai outfit Bangkok United on Wednesday night at Allianz Stadium after coming on in the 55th minute as a replacement for Corey Hollman.
The former Australian under-17 and under-20 international has now scored 11 times in all competitions for Sydney this season, with eight of those goals coming in games in which he has been named among the substitutes.
“It’s not easy as coaches to make these decisions because we all look at the starting 11 and then we also look at players that are going to come off the bench and give us that energy, and ‘Sega’ is definitely doing that for us,” Talay said.
“Does he deserve to start? Definitely, he deserves to start, and for him it might be frustrating, but I look at it within the game, within the game plan of what we need to do at times to make changes and ‘Sega’ is definitely doing a fantastic job when he does come on.”
Segecic’s brace seemed to have given his side a crucial first-leg win only for the Bangkok outfit to equalise in stoppage time with a goal from Thitiphan Puangchan, whose powerful strike caught Sydney goalkeeper Harrison Devenish-Meares napping at his near post.
“We know there’s another leg. We’re still in a good place in that sense,” Talay said ahead of next Wednesday’s return leg in Thailand.
“It’s always going to be a tough game away from home. We’ll come up with a game plan for the second leg, and hopefully, we can get the result we need.”
Originally published as Sky Blues attacking weapon Adrian Segecic continues to push for starting berth
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