Sydney FC Head Coach Graham Arnold has confirmed he’ll make minimal changes to the squad that’s scored 20 goals for the concession of none for their Westfield FFA Cup Semi Final on Wednesday night.
Arnold confirmed club captain Alex Brosque would make his first start since February, while Bernie Ibini will make his first appearance on the bench following his return to Sydney FC in the offseason.
“[We’ll put out our] strongest team,” Arnold said.
“Only two are out. Zullo is still a bit sick from the weekend, he played sick against the Mariners and Wilkinson his ankle, but he’ll be right for Wellington.
“The line-up will be similar to the one that lined up against the Mariners, except Alex Brosque will start.
“He’s come off the bench twice, he’s done exceptionally well in the two times he’s come off the bench and we need our captain back on the field.
“We’ve got plenty of good options up front at the moment,” he continued.
“Brosque has to play, Bobô will play, Holosko and Carney will play but on the bench I’ll have Simon, Ninkovic and Bernie Ibini so there’s plenty of options going forward.
“Bernie looks great, faster than ever and he’s still growing. He’s going to add a lot to us especially from November on.”
Arnold said there’s still room for improvement from his squad following their consecutive 4-0 wins in the league, as he said he expects Canberra to throw everything at the Sky Blues in their Semi Final clash at Viking Park.
“We’re only 60% of where we’ll end up,” Arnold said.
“It’s up to the players to chase that extra 40% and it’s up for me to drive that extra 40%. Confidence is good but we’ve achieved nothing, it’s two games and no trophies are handed out after two games.
“I believe we can be number one. For me, against the Mariners we were only 60% and in patches against the Wanderers we showed how good we can be.
“It’s Canberra’s one night only performance,” he continued.
“They’ve done exceptionally well to reach the Semi Final, they haven’t conceded a goal in the cup competition yet and they’ve got players who want to show and present their best performance.
“We have to be ready for their energy and we know what needs to happen to win the game. We just have to match their enthusiasm.”
Sydney FC take on Canberra Olympic in the Westfield FFA Cup Semi Final at Viking Park, Wanniassa ACT on Wednesday night (kick off 7:30pm). Catch the match live on Fox Sports or follow @SydneyFC on Twitter for updates.
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