They say grand finals are one-off occasions, but Sydney FC are drawing on their Big Blue dominance ahead of Sunday’s Hyundai A-League showpiece in the Harbour City.
The Sky Blues have beaten Melbourne Victory in all three of their meetings this season.
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And Sydney FC defender Alex Wilkinson believes that will be a factor come Sunday.
“They’re [Victory] going to say it’s a one-off game but of course we’re going to take a lot of confidence from beating them three times,” the Caltex Socceroos defender told reporters ahead of the showdown.
“You can say that the season doesn’t matter but we’ve got a fantastic record at home.
“Defensively, we’ve conceded very few goals at home which is going to give us confidence going into the game.
“We’re going to have a huge crowd there as well, so all those little things are going to work in our favour.
“Obviously they’re going to have to come up here and beat us on our own patch, which no-one has done yet.
“We’re going to go in very confident,” he added.
WONDERFUL SEASON FOR WILKO
It’ll be Wilkinson’s fourth grand final, having been on losing Mariners sides in 2005/06, 2007/08 and 2010/11.
Following stints in China and South Korea, he returned to the A-League with Melbourne City last season before a move to the Sky Blues this season.
It couldn’t have gone much better for the vastly experienced central defender.
“It’s been a great year – I’ve really enjoyed myself,” he said.
“Coming back here to Sydney, my home-town, I couldn’t have dreamt of a better first season here.
“I just want to cap it off now with one more win,” said Wilkinson.
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BERISHA THREAT?
Wilkinson refused to be drawn into talk of the danger of three-time championship winning Victory striker Besart Berisha.
“[He’s] no more worry than anyone else,” shrugged Wilkinson.
“We’re not going to focus on them too much – it’s about us.
“That’s what it’s been like all year.
“You give the opposition respect and you do the video and the analysis, which the coaches will do and work out their strengths and weaknesses and how we can exploit them or what we need to watch out for.
“But every game is more about what we do and how we’re going to do things when we have the ball or don’t have the ball.
“This week will be no different.
“It’s worked every week so far this season, so we’re not going to change anything now,” he declared.
