Gastro gone and Sydney FC in ‘great shape’ for Victory clash
GRAHAM Arnold says the bout of gastro that has affected his squad over the last two weeks is gone as Sydney FC prepare for tonight’s massive ‘Big Blue’ in Melbourne.
Sydney FC
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GRAHAM Arnold said the bout of gastro that had affected his squad over the past two weeks was gone as Sydney FC prepare for tonight’s massive “Big Blue” in Melbourne.
The Sky Blues have had three draws in their past four games, while the tide seems to have finally turned for Victory — who have looked good in their past two matches.
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But Sydney boast a far superior recent record against their fierce rivals, having won their past five encounters, and Arnold said this week’s preparation had been “spot on”.
“The players are in a great mental position, physically we’re in great shape — the bug is now gone, we had that for two weeks,” Arnold said.
“We’ve trained the house down. We go down there expecting to win the game and put in a great performance.
“We know when we perform at our best we only need to worry about one team and that’s ourselves.”
But Arnold said the January transfer window had caused some anxiety at the club. He alleviated some of that by committing to Sydney until the end of the season, but there are still several players coming off contract at the end of this season and others still who are looking to make the best decisions for the careers.
“There are four days to go before it (the transfer window) shuts,” he said. “It’s a time you get nervous, but it’s a time we make sure players are ready for the games.
“We know players are also thinking of their career moves, they’re thinking about getting away from the A-League with its salary cap and making a lot of money to support their families.”
With the Sky Blues looking virtually unstoppable seven points clear atop the ladder, Arnold said they were motivated by “history”.
“No team has ever won two premierships in a row,” he said. “History shows if you win the premiership you’re a great chance of winning the grand final, or the championship, because you have a home grand final. That’s what drives us and what motivates us. We have a great group of players looking to be greater.”
Mat Simon hasn’t travelled with the squad after taking time to recover from an injury, while Victory coach Kevin Muscat said his team hadn’t been finalised.
He said goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas was “back in the mix”, though wouldn’t confirm whether he would regain his spot from Matt Acton, while Mark Milligan was expected to play despite being linked to an Asian move.
“It’s not important. What is important is (Friday night). He’s trained well all week,” Muscat said. “But (Friday night) is not about us trying to beat Sydney. It’s about us preparing or performing to a certain level.
“And all the focus, everything we’ve done this week, is about preparing to perform.”
