City Head Coach John van’t Schip says his side will be prepared for a fired up Western Sydney Wanderers on Friday night as City look to continue the home side’s barren run at their new home of Spotless Stadium.
The Wanderers are yet to win at the Sydney Showgrounds this season, picking up two draws with Newcastle and the Central Coast, and after a controversial loss last week, van’t Schip says his side is ready for a Western Sydney side who will have a “point to prove”.
“I think they are a good footballing team,” van’t Schip said.
“In the game against Victory there were moments in the game that they could have gone up and they were dominating Victory in the first half.
“[They are] a good footballing team and I think they have been a bit unlucky in the final third so with that and seeing them play against Perth and Victory, there’s a lot of good football in that team and we like to play football as well so hopefully we can get an open game and see two good footballing teams.
“We need to make sure we are prepared in a good way because we have to be up for it because it’s going to be 33-35 degrees so the circumstances are going to be tough. They want to prove something as well so every game has its own history and this is a new game. I’m sure they are going to be up for it.”
Friday will also be the first time Tim Cahill returns to play domestically in his home town of Sydney since 1997 and van’t Schip believes Cahill is progressing well, saying the Socceroos legend has added to the squad both on and off the park.
“Tim is important for our team in a lot of different ways,” he said.
“It’s important that he got a few good weeks of training and playing, we got him into playing a bit more than he was used to.
It’s not every time that we are looking to do that but it’s getting the best out of Tim and the team but it was good having him here. He worked well and let’s just see how we can use him in the coming weeks and tomorrow.”
The Dutchman also confirmed the return of Luke Brattan to the side, returning from Socceroos duty, but says Nicolas Colazo will sit out this week, with the Argentine due back for next Sunday’s A-League and W-League double header at AAMI Park.
City take on the Wanderers in Friday night football, kick-off 7.50pm. Don’t forget to see the match on Fox Sports 505 and SBS2.
