Sydney FC Head Coach Graham Arnold is out for Glory on Sunday, as the Sky Blues boss looks to end the Hyundai A-League 2015/16 season with three points at Allianz Stadium.
Arnold said he’d field the strongest team possible against the West Australian side vying for a home final, as he vowed to finish the season on a high for the Sydney FC faithful.
“We want to make it as difficult for Perth as we can,” Arnold said.
“Perth are on a great run and we haven’t had a good run in the A-League at all and we owe it to our fans that we finish the season on a good note.
Our Champions League games have shown the club and everyone that on our day we’re a very good team.
“When our focus is good and our preparation individually is good we can beat anyone so we’ve got to go into this last game of the season with great motivation and great focus and put a spoiler on Perth Glory’s season.
“Alex Brosque is [still injured] and I think there’s one or two players who pulled up quite sore from the Champions League game because it was a difficult pitch to play on,” he continued.
“I’ll assess the players today and tomorrow and I’ll put the strongest team out available for selection against Perth Glory.”
Arnold said planning has already begun for next season as he labelled this time a learning period for the club ahead of season 2016/17.
“It’s a matter of learning from tough periods and learning from your mistakes and fixing them in the off season,” Arnold said.
“Fortunately we’ve got the ACL which is salvaging some pride but at the same time the disappointment of our A-League season is not to be underestimated.
“I start planning ahead in January always, you’ve got to be forward thinking and pro-active in what’s in front of you, where we need to get better and what we need to do.
“I’ve already started thinking about that but at the same time we’ve got the ACL that hopefully with the last 16 will take us through until the end of May and the players have to stay focussed and think about achieving some type of success for the club.
“We’ve had good days where we haven’t lost to the Wanderers and given our fans something to cheer about there, we’ve had very very good days in the Asian Champions League and we’ve had not so good days.
“As a club we have to learn from this and make things stronger for next year and for the future.”
Sydney FC take on Perth Glory in the final clash of the Hyundai A-League 2015/16 season at Allianz Stadium on Sunday (kick off 5pm). Make it a family fun day out as kids go free for a final match. Get your tickets now.
Sydney FC 2016/17 Memberships on sale June. Register your interest by signing up at http://my.sydneyfc.com
