Sydney FC wary of wounded Reds

There may be seven competition points and six places separating Sydney FC from Adelaide United on the Hyundai A-League ladder but Vitezslav Lavicka’s top-of-the table team knows claiming another three points will be a battle when it lines up against an injury hit Reds’ outfit at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday night.

“They’re a very strong team Adelaide, they’ve proven that over the A-League history, they’re always there or there abouts come finals time,” said Sydney FC midfielder, Terry McFlynn. “They’re always a danger but it’s up to us to stay focused on the job at hand.”

“First game in Sydney was very tough for us, it was very equal and we (only) scored in the last part,” added Coach Lavicka. “We have respect for the opponent and expect a tough game.”

The Sky Blues added to their good record against Adelaide courtesy of a late Mark Bridge winner when the sides met at the Sydney Football Stadium in round-2, in August. Points have traditionally proven much harder to come by in the city of churches, however, but Sydney is determined to build on last week’s big win over Melbourne.

“We’ve talked about a few different things, we’ve analysed our game – how we can improve,” said McFlynn. “We’ve looked at Adelaide as well - there’re some areas that we think we can exploit them and hopefully we can put it into practice on Friday night.”

Sydney hasn’t won in Adelaide since December 2007 but will be chasing three wins in a row - and back-to-back road victories when it takes the field at Hindmarsh Stadium. The Hyundai A-League match will be preceded by a top-of-the-table National Youth League clash between the young Sky Blues and Adelaide juniors. The main game gets underway at 8pm (AEDT).