Wanderers v Sydney: Sky Blues’ defence aims to make amends

Steve Corica reckons Sydney FC’s defensive frailties from last week have been fixed for this weekend’s derby clash.

Siem de Jong, centre, is a good chance to return to the Sydney FC starting line-up against Western Sydney Wanderers tonight. Picture: AAP

If you want a clue as to why Sydney FC have been one of the standout teams of the A-League over the past couple of seasons, you need look no further than a seemingly watertight defence that has given very little away.

Up until last week’s shock 3-1 home loss to Wellington Phoenix, the Sky Blues had conceded three goals in a match just once in their previous 63 games, and that was in extra time in last season’s 3-2 grand-final qualifying loss against Melbourne Victory.

So it is no surprise the defeat by Phoenix caused coach Steve Corica some grief and forced him to pay extra attention to the defensive aspect of his team ahead of the second Sydney derby of the season, against Western Sydney Wanderers at ANZ Stadium.

As much as he bemoaned some individual mistakes that cost the Sky Blues dearly, Corica understands defence is an area that has been very strong for the club and he wants to get back to that fortress-like mentality in his back line.

“Defensively we need to be strong against them. We have conceded in the last couple of games so we have worked on defence this week,” Corica said yesterday. “It’s not like us to concede three goals in a game … that was the first time we have done it for quite a while.

“I think we have fixed the problem and now we move forward. We had a bad first half last week but we were better in the second half and now the players want to get it right.

“You can see they know it is derby week. They are excited and focused.”

Whether Corica makes changes to the starting XI remains to be seen, but it is likely there could be at least two new faces in the side.

Aaron Calver might be given a chance ahead of Jop van der Linden, who has been struggling lately. The Dutchman couldn’t cope with the speed of the Phoenix attackers and was caught out several times. Calver will offer a bit more pace.

Fellow Dutchman Siem de Jong is also a chance to come into the starting line-up. The Sky Blues looked better when he came on in the second half.

De Jong is just back from a hamstring injury that has sidelined him since the first derby game against the Wanderers in round two. He missed the next four games but got good minutes in his return last week and came through unscathed.

Sydney will face a Wanderers side that will be full of confidence after last week’s 2-0 win over struggling Central Coast Mariners. They showed great commitment to bounce back after their awful 4-0 loss to Melbourne Victory the previous week when coach Markus Babbel accused his players of lacking effort.

They’ll be fired up to make amends for their controversial second-round loss to the Sky Blues when they were denied what was a fair goal in the second half of a 2-0 defeat.

Wanderers were two goals down but in the ascendancy when Roly Bonevacia had a goal overturned by VAR, a decision that prompted a furious reaction from Babbel, who was subsequently red-carded from the bench and had to serve a one-match ban.

Corica would not be drawn into talking about Babbel except to say he thinks the German has done a good job since taking the reins at the start of the season.

“I don’t want to comment on that (Babbel). They had a good win last week, it was a good performance,” Corica said. “I am more focused our club and what we want to do so I won’t talk about other coaches.”