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Sydney defender Keller not fazed by Grand Final

Due to having plenty of experience in Europe, Sydney FC defender Stephan Keller says he is not too worried that Saturday night's match is a Grand Final.

The 30-year old former Switzerland international says this week feels just like a normal week for him as he is used to playing to finish on the top of the table as almost every league in the world awards the championship to that team.

Keller feels no extra pressure going into Saturday's decider with the Melbourne Victory, describing it as business as usual.

''Well, to be honest, at the moment I cannot feel any excitement. It's just another training week,'' Keller said. ''We've just had two days off so it's been a pretty relaxing start to the week. Our real preparation started today and I'll be keeping things as usual.''

Despite this relaxed outlook, the former De Graafschap centre-half says finals do definitely get more attention than the regular season.

''When you see Wellington getting 35,000, you can only say it's a great thing having these games,'' he added. ''The fans really seem to be more interested in the finals, which is good, and there's a lot more stories in the papers, so you can see it's important here.

''But on the other hand, in Europe, when you play 30, 27 or 36 matches or whatever that league has, if you finish on top, you're the champion. Here, a lot of finals will be decided on penalties and as we all know, penalties come down to the mental side and a bit of luck.''

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Andrew Slevison
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Andrew Slevison

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