For Sydney FC shot stopper Vedran Janjetovic tonight’s Westfield FFA Cup clash against Sydney United is a chance to go back to his roots at Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park.
Janjetovic started his path to the Hyundai A-League at United, progressing through the youth ranks, before joining Sydney FC in 2012.
The Croatian born goalkeeper made over 70 appearances for United’s first grade squad and is set to come up against some familiar faces with a number of ex-team mates from his Sky Blues youth days now plying their trade in the IGA NSW National Premier League Men’s 1 team.
“It’s going to be awesome to go back out to Edensor Park,” Janjetovic said.
“I can’t wait to get out there and have another go on that pitch. The stadium is awesome, the fans are unbelievable and there’s a lot of history back there.
“It’s good to play against your mates, I’ve been copping stick all week so to get out there on the pitch and share the same pitch once again it’s going to be a good feeling,” he continued.
“This time I’m on the opposite team though so I hope they don’t get too angry with me.”
Janjetovic is heading into tonight’s clash full of confidence, with the Sky Blues winning eight out of their 10 matches so far, however he’s expecting to face stiff competition from Sydney United and stressed the need for Sydney FC to show the opposition respect.
“I expect a big performance from the opposition team without a doubt,” Janjetovic said.
“But I expect our boys to rise up and be as efficient as possible and get the win tonight.
“I’m expecting us to win, nothing less from our squad, we’ve been training hard,” he continued.
“You want to go into every game as confident as possible but you don’t want to think that every game is going to be a walk in the park because no game is ever a walk in the park.
“We know what we need to do, we know our game plan and we just can’t get carried away, we have to treat them with respect and just go out there and worry about ourselves and make sure we do the job properly.”
Gates open tonight at Sydney United Sport Centre, Edensor Park at 6pm with the final matchday of the Westfield FFA Cup round of 16 kicking off at 7:30pm. The match being followed by the live draw for the quarter finals of the competition.
