Sydney FC midfielder Brandon O’Neill has said there’s no room for complacency in the Sky Blues’ squad ahead of Saturday’s away clash against Wellington Phoenix (kick off 5:35pm AEDT).
In a top v bottom encounter, O’Neill has urged his Sky Blues teammates to focus only on their goal of going back to back in season 2017/18 and defending their Hyundai A-League Premiership and Championship titles.
“The good thing we have at Sydney FC is number one not to be complacent,” O’Neill said.
“I think we’ve been able to use a method where we always want to try and improve and get better and that cuts out complacency, it’s not accepted here.
“A trip over to Wellington is always a good thing for Sydney FC, we love travelling there, we love playing there and more importantly we love winning there so we’re looking forward to the weekend.
“We’re looking forward to heading to Wellington before Christmas to get the job done and get the three points.
“It’s always about us and looking at what we can improve on and get better at. I still think and the lads still think that there’s so much more to give.
“In saying that we’re still winning and we’re still scoring goals and we’re not conceding many. In one hand there’s things we can improve on but on the flip side we’re getting the results, we’re very positive about that and we’re not conceding goals so there’s a lot of positives .
“We’ve thought that [going back to back] since day one and that’s our goal coming into this season to make sure we do that,” he continued.
“We sat down in pre-season and we looked at everyone individually and as a team and everyone had the same motto and that’s to go back to back and to try and win everything we’re involved in. That’s not just the league or the FFA Cup, that’s the Asian Champions League as well.”
O’Neill has called for his team mates to deliver a statement performance like the one they dished to the Wanderers a fortnight ago, as the Sky Blues’ midfielder heralded the return of Milos Ninkovic from injury.
“This weekend it’d be great to go out and make a statement like we did against the Wanderers,” O’Neill said.
“I think it’s definitely in our grasps, we have the players especially in the front third to do that and the players in the defensive third to stop goals going in.
“I think this weekend, we put it all together, we’ll be looking to go over there to not only get the three points but to score as many goals as possible.
“It’s always good to have someone of that [Ninkovic’s] calibre back in the team and back training and around the boys,” he continued.
“He [Ninkovic] is grand, he knows his body inside out and he’s had a really good week, smiling, laughing and joking with the lads and that’s always a good sign.”
Sydney FC travel to take on the Wellington Phoenix at Westpac Stadium on Saturday 23 December (kick off 5:35pm AEDT). Catch the match live on Fox Sports 501, visit Sydney FC’s Home Away from Home at The Star, Sydney or follow @SydneyFC on Twitter for updates.
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