Sydney FC Head Coach Graham Arnold has revealed he’s on the hunt for a left back as the Sky Blues departed for North Queensland to compete in the Wingate Townsville Football Cup.
Arnold is determined to have depth in each position on the field and has indicated the left back role as an area requiring addition ahead of the Hyundai A-League 2014/15 season kick off, although he praised the teams spirit ahead of their first match of the tournament against Northern Fury on Sunday (kick off 7:30pm).
“I’d like to if possible get one more player in,” Arnold said.
“We’re a bit short in the left back position at the moment with only young Alex Gersbach there. Yes, Matty Jurman can play there but he’s a specialist central defender and I want to have two players for every position to create healthy competition between the players.
“There’s no doubt that it will be a foreign player because we have two visa spots left and if we can bring a player in in that position it would strengthen the squad enormously,” he continued.
“We’re speaking to one or two Dutchmen and a couple of Englishman as well but on this one I’m just staying patient.
“The morale is fantastic, things are gelling well together at the moment but there is still a lot of work to do and a long way to go but I’m very happy at the moment.”
Of the Wingate Townsville Football Cup, Arnold has asked for his squad to continue their recent form, with the Sky Blues losing only one of their five preseason games to date and the Championship winning Head Coach singled out a number of players for praise after delivering impressive performances so far.
“What I’m asking for from the players is consistency,” said Arnold.
“Hard work on the training pitch. Every time they go on the pitch that they try to better themselves and become a better team. Every day and we’re working hard on that at the moment and I’m very happy with where they’re at.
“I think I’ve got two fantastic leaders in Sasa Ognenovski and Nikola Petkovic and I need those two guys to lead from the back, be the voice of the team on the field and I need them to drive the rest of the team forward,” he continued.
“Plus we have good depth with Matty Jurman in the side who has been fantastic in the preseason games to date.”
Sydney FC will face the Northern Fury, Birsbane Roar and Newcastle Jets in the Wingate Townsville Football Cup with the Sky Blues first match kicking off at 7:30pm on Sunday 24 August at Townsville Sports Reserve.
Sydney FC Traveling Squad: 1. Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 2. Sebastian RYALL, 3. Sasa OGNENOVSKI, 4. Pedj BOJIC, 5. Matthew JURMAN, 6. Nikola PETKOVIC, 7. Corey GAMEIRO, 9. Shane SMELTZ, 11. Bernie IBINI, 12. Hagi GLIGOR, 13. Alex GERSBACH, 14. Alex BROSQUE, 16. Christopher NAUMOFF, 17. Terry ANTONIS, 18. Peter TRIANTIS, 19. Nick CARLE, 20. Vedran JANJETOVIC (gk), 21. Marc JANKO, 22. Ali ABBAS, . Aaron CALVER, . Dylan CATON, . Themba MUATA-MARLOW, . Anthony BOUZANIS (gk), . George TIMOTHEOU
Follow @SydneyFC on Twitter for live match updates to see what the squad are up to throughout the nine day camp.
GET YOUR MEMBERSHIP NOW! Get in quick and make sure you don’t miss a moment of Sky Blues action this 2014/15 Hyundai A-League season by purchasing your Sydney FC Membership now. Enjoy a seat at every home match and free public transport to the games. Sign up to our Newsletter now to keep up to date with all the clubs happenings.
Purchase you Membership here
