While there’s plenty of fanfare surrounding Saturday’s FFA Cup #SydneyDerby Semi-Final, for Sydney FC Head Coach Steve Corica it’s just another match to win on the road to go back to back in the Cup.
The Sky Blues’ boss said priority number one was reaching the 2018 decider, as he said he was looking forward to playing at Panthers Stadium, having last featured there for Sydney FC as a player in a 2009 pre-season clash.
“It’s a Derby so we want to win, but we want to win every game,” Corica said.
“This is just another game that we have to win to get to the Final of the Cup. Our priority is to do that, we want to go back to back, that’s no secret we’ve said that from the start.
“Sydney FC is all about winning trophies and this is just another game to get through to get to the Final and achieve what we want
“The boys are looking forward to it, I saw that at training, you can tell when there’s a proper game on the line they step up and they’re ready to go.
“It’s going to be great [to play at Panthers Stadium],” he continued.
“Sydney FC has played there before in a pre-season game when I was still playing. The field is normally good out there, we’re looking forward to it.
“It’s a challenge, it’s an away game, it’s in Wanderers territory so it’ll be even better for us when we come away with a win.”
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Corica confirmed that Ben Warland and Chris Zuvela would both miss the clash through injury, while Daniel De Silva is set to return, as he said the 120 minutes played against Avondale FC in the Quarter Final would pay dividends on Saturday.
“We have Ben Warland and Chris Zuvela out. Other than them we have everyone back, fit, ready to go and obviously looking forward to the first Derby,” Corica said.
“You’ll see him [De Silva] there or thereabouts. He’s been out for five weeks now but he’s been training the last two or three weeks with the team. He’s excited, he’s ready to go and excited to get back playing.
“It’s fantastic, the 120 minutes [against Avondale],” he continued.
“We’re in pre-season here, so for our boys to go 120 minutes, and we improved in that extra time, we out ran them, so our fitness is very good now and that was a good hit out for us.
“State League teams are never easy to play against. We’re looking forward to an A-League opposition now and a win against the Wanderers.”
Sydney FC face Western Sydney Wanderers in the FFA Cup Semi-Final at Panthers Stadium on Saturday 6 October (kick off 7:30pm AEST). #WatchWithUs LIVE on Fox Sports or follow us on Twitter for updates.
