Markus Babbel has urged his Western Sydney Wanderers side to avoid simple errors in this Saturday night’s Sydney Derby.
A sloppy Wanderers error allowed Perth Glory to open the scoring in their Round 1 fixture, and the German boss says his charges must avoid complacency against a ruthless Sydney FC side.
Babbel has already seen how destructive Sydney FC can be in the final third, having watched Steve Corica’s men beat the Wanderers 3-0 in an FFA Cup Semi Final earlier this month.
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And further mistakes at the back in Saturday night’s Derby at the Sydney Cricket Ground could prove fatal for the Red and Black.
“This [Sydney] is an experienced team,” he said.
“They know what they want to do. To be fair, now, [I] watched against us, I saw them against Adelaide.
“If they get a chance to score, this is unbelievable. [In those two matches] they had four chances, they scored four goals.
“[It is] fantastic, what they do in front of goal. So we have to know if we do easy mistakes, they will hurt us.
“We have to concentrate over 90 minutes [with] very hard work, because they’re waiting for the moment [of an error].
“We can’t give them many moments.”
Babbel continued to heap praise on Sydney FC before dubbing his team the “worst team in the league”.
“We know it’s a difficult game because this is a good side,” he said.
“Again, [they] are one of the favourites of the title.
“We are the worst team in the league, so we try to get a result again, you know.
“We know it’s not easy, but if we can bring our performance on the pitch, then I think we have a good chance to get a result.
“If not, Sydney are too strong.”
Keeper feeling good again
Wanderers goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic will come up against his former side in the Derby.
And despite a pelvic injury causing him some concern in the off-season, the 31-year-old goalkeeper is feeling fit and ready for action.
“It’s obviously an exciting time for us,” he said.
“Derbies are always a good game, enjoyable, so I don’t expect anything less from this one.
“Everything’s fine now [with the injury]. We’ve ironed out all the kinks.
“It was a long time that I’ve had that injury… it was something that was lingering around from last year.
“[I have] just modified [training] a little bit here and there, just play with it, see how it reacts week to week… couple of injections, stuff like that.
“[I] just have to manage it for the time being and eventually it will go away.”
