Sydney FC to play it cool in Big Blue as Melbourne Victory admit Sky Blues are the favourites

IT is being billed as a championship decider, but Sydney FC’s Alex Wilkinson insists Thursday’s clash with Melbourne Victory is “no special occasion”.

IT is being billed as a Premier’s Plate decider and a grand final dress rehearsal, but Sydney FC defender Alex Wilkinson insists Thursday’s clash with Melbourne Victory is “no special occasion”.

Sydney could go 11 points clear at the top of the A-League with a win at Etihad Stadium, in front of a crowd tipped to hit 40,000, with Victory desperate to reel in the undefeated leaders.

Despite Victory captain Carl Valeri admitting Sydney are favourites for the win, a visit to the side most likely to challenge the minor premiership aspirations looms as Sydney’s sternest test of the season.

But Wilkinson is adamant that viewing it like that will play into their opponents’ hands.

The experienced Wilkinson knows Sydney can’t lose their heads. Picture: Gregg Porteous

Wounded by consecutive losses, Victory know that defeat would render their pursuit of Sydney almost academic, but Wilkinson said Sydney would seek to avoid exactly such hype around the importance of the game.

“We’ve had a lot of tests this season, this is the latest but we’ve passed them all so far,” Wilkinson said. “I’m pretty confident it will be the same on Thursday night.

“In terms of the ladder, they’re obviously the closest team to us, but we’ll still treat it as we would any other game.

“For us it’s no special occasion, and nor are we looking at the table particularly. Of course it would be a big thing to get a win over our closest challengers, but the key is not to see it as a different game.

“You have to play the game, not the occasion — or the crowd, even though I hope it is a big one and a fantastic night for the A-League.

“We’ll do well if we stick to what we do best and what we do every week, not something different because it’s Melbourne Victory.”

Wilko with new signing Jordy Buijs, who could make his debut. Picture: Gregg Porteous

Valeri meanwhile said Sydney deserve to have the odds in their favour — but noted that brash statements about their ability to become the A-League’s first “invincibles” means there is heightened amount of expectation on the Sky Blues.

“At this stage they are favourites, of course they are,” Valeri said. “They’re on top of us, they’re undefeated and they’ve proved week in week out that they can score and they can defend well.

“They’ve said it themselves that they want to go undefeated this season and the way that they’re performing, they’ve proved on the pitch that they might be able to do that.

“So you’d have to say there would be expectation on them on Thursday.”

Sydney coach Graham Arnold must reshuffle his defence once more, with Rhyan Grant suspended and Sebastian Ryall out for most of the rest of the season with a hamstring injury.

But Arnold’s defence has produced two more clean sheets despite the loss of Matt Jurman to Korea and Ryall to injury, with Dutchman Jordy Buijs likely to make his debut.

Originally published as Sydney FC to play it cool in Big Blue as Melbourne Victory admit Sky Blues are the favourites