Sydney in danger of experiencing devastating exit

Sydney FC are in danger of going from the top of the A-League world to devastation within a few weeks.

After the Sky Blues claimed the Premiers’ Plate on the final day of the regular season, they now find themselves in a knockout situation ahead of Saturday’s Preliminary Final against Wellington Phoenix.

If they happen to lose, their season would be ended and striker Alex Brosque admitted he had already thought about that following the weekend’s second leg draw with the Melbourne Victory that put the Sydneysiders into this predicament.

''I actually thought about that exact thing in the changeroom straight after the [Melbourne] match,'' Brosque said. ''In the past couple of weeks, especially when we claimed the minor premiership, it just felt like we'd done everything right all year, that it was our year and that it was just going to happen for us.

''But after the game, I was sitting there and was reflecting to myself: 'Right, tonight was supposed to be it for us and it didn't happen. What now? The same thing could happen to us this week and we could just as easily find ourselves finished for the year'. That would be devastating.''

But Brosque was confident that this time, the players would be able to regroup and get a favourable result come Saturday to keep their dream alive.

''We've come in after losses and everybody's got their head down, nobody talks and it's just a quiet place,'' Brosque added. ''When we came in on Monday, it was the exact opposite: everyone was laughing and joking and still in high spirits and that's a big step towards being pyschologically right for the weekend. Everyone's still positive and switched on. For us to be in with any chance we needed to show that character. The coach noticed it as well.''