Ante Juric hailed Sydney FC’s maturity and resilience as they seek to become the first side in history to win a third consecutive Liberty A-League Premiership.
Following Football Australia’s decision to rule in favour of Canberra United’s appeal over a points deduction handed down the Australian Professional Leagues, Sydney are now five points adrift of league-leading Western United with three games remaining for the Sky Blues.
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Finals-chasing Canberra were deducted three points after they were deemed to have breached regulations by fielding an ineligible player in their 2-1 win over reigning premiers Sydney on February 11.
The APL found Canberra utilised an unauthorised additional substitution in relation to the club’s upset of the Sky Blues at McKellar Park last month, with Sydney awarded a 3-0 victory.
After appealing the sanction, FA ruled in favour of Canberra, “ordering that the APL determination to impose a forfeit and loss of competition points on the club to be set aside, and that the original result of the match be reinstated”.
The APL can appeal the determination of the Committee to Football Australia’s independent Appeals Committee within seven days of receiving the written determination.
Western United now look set to finish top of the table at Sydney’s expense.
But, speaking before Friday’s ruling, Juric heaped praise on his team.
“It’s definitely been the hardest league and that’s why I’m so proud to be up there,” Sydney head coach Juric told AAP.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries which have hurt us and we’ve got a lot of young girls who are leading the way.
“The worst team in the league can lift and play like Real Madrid against you, but that shows our positive mindset to keep doing what we are doing.
“It’ll only help us next year and we have still picked up points.”
The Sky Blues face an Adelaide United side on Saturday, who have struggled to recapture last year’s form which earned them a drought-breaking finals berth.
The Reds sit eighth and are out of finals contention but did enjoy a win over Sydney in the opening round of the season.
“You can see they are playing with freedom now because they’ve got nothing to lose,” Juric said.
“They’re a dangerous prospect for us and they were in the semi-finals last year so they aren’t a bad team.
“They’ll want to ruin any chance we have – that’s what I’d be saying (if I was Adelaide coach).”
