Sydney FC midfielder Josh Brillante ready to concentrate on title push after missing out on move to Korea
For the second time in 10 months football dealt Josh Brillante a cruel blow, but the Sydney FC midfielder insists he can still play a leading role in the Sky Blues’ title race.
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For the second time in 10 months football dealt Josh Brillante a cruel blow, but the Sydney FC midfielder insists he can still play a leading role in the Sky Blues’ title race.
Speaking for the first time since watching a move to Korean side Pohang Steelers fall through, Brillante said he is yet to address his future beyond this season, as his Sydney contract approaches its end.
Having been cut from the Socceroos squad by then-coach Bert van Marwijk at the start of June last year, Brillante had set his heart on a switch to Korea in February — to the extent of farewelling his teammates.
Dropped by coach Steve Corica while the saga played out, Brillante insisted he had no trouble refocusing on Sydney’s campaign once Pohang abandoned their interest.
“It's what happens to a lot of players in football — there were a lot of ups and downs and a lot of things happening,” Brillante said.
“You just have to roll with the punches, it's part of the game. It's a busy period for us with three games in the past week, a couple more next week, which means we can just concentrate on the football.
“It's just the way things go, you just get back out there. Our job is to play football and that's the thing I enjoy doing most of all.”
Asked if we anticipated remaining at Sydney next season, Brillante added: “I’m not sure yet - actually I’m not thinking about that at all.
“We've got the finals coming up and we're still involved in the ACL as well. I'm just trying to focus on that and do the best we can.”
His immediate assignment is to wrestle with the newly crowned Premiers Perth Glory on Thursday, with Sydney desperate for a win to keep Melbourne Victory at bay in the race for second spot — and to propel them into the finals.
“More so for ourselves, we want to go into the finals playing good football,” Brillante said. “Momentum helps a lot in the finals — where you sit on the table means nothing. It's the confidence we can take from it that's the biggest thing.
“Of course it's disappointing (to lose the Premiers Plate to Perth), we always striving to win every game we can. We're playing really well going into the finals and the big plate is the one we're after.”
Meanwhile captain Alex Brosque looks increasingly likely to miss the showdown with Perth, as he battles pain in both feet in the wake of Saturday’s derby.
Already suffering plantar fasciitis in his left foot, Brosque hurt his right heel in scoring Sydney’s goal against Western Sydney at ANZ Stadium.
Though medical tests have revealed no significant damage, the striker looks almost certain to be rested to avoid worsening the injury ahead of the finals.
“It's improving every day, though it's still quite sore,” Brosque said. “But I had scans on it and the results are quite positive.
“It’s still probably 50:50 for Perth, but we'll see how it pulls up in the next couple of days.”