Sky Blues boss Ufuk Talay has confirmed star striker Patryk Klimala will be available for his side’s make-or-break clash with Melbourne City on Saturday evening.
Klimala, who has 10 goals in the Isuzu UTE A-League this season, has missed the club’s recent games against Newcastle Jets and Western United respectively due to a cyst on his knee which has been causing him pain whilst running.
However, having now undergone treatment on the issue which involved several injections to help manage the pain, the 26-year-old Polish forward will travel with the squad down to Victoria for their season-defining game at AAMI Park.
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Sydney FC head to Melbourne knowing they’ll only be playing finals football if they can secure a point against a side who also knows a win at home will see them secure second spot on the ladder and with it, a place in the AFC Champions League Elite next season.
“Patrick should be available,” said Talay when speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday morning.
“He trained yesterday fully with the group, so he’ll travel. There’s a couple of players that still need to tick boxes this morning for us to make a decision before we get on the flight this afternoon.
“He’s had a couple of injections this week to make himself available, which is great for us because I think he’s a very important player for the group.
“So like I said, he’ll be available to travel to Melbourne. And then there’s a couple of players that need to tick boxes.”
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Among those needing to pass a late fitness test before the game against Melbourne City is English star Joe Lolley.
Substituted during the 1-0 loss to Western United with a groin complaint last weekend, Talay admits it’s touch-and-go whether or not the 32-year-old would be fit enough to get on the plane.
“Joe’s had a bit of a groin soreness in the last game against Western United, so we took him off a little bit earlier than what we wanted.
“We’ve been managing (him) through the week, and he needs to get through certain things today to be available for Saturday.”
Also requiring a late fitness test is Corey Hollman and Talay will be hoping the 21-year-old can prove his fitness given Brazilian midfielder Leo Sena has officially been ruled out of the clash.
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Currently sat seventh on the ladder with one game left to play, a draw against City will be enough to see them book their spot in the Finals Series given they have a vastly superior goal difference to sixth-placed Adelaide United.
“Look, we’ve always set up the team to go and win games. We’ve never set up the team not to lose,” said Talay when speaking to the magnitude of Saturday’s game.
“But obviously, in the back of our heads, in the back of the players heads, they definitely know that one point will get us over line to play finals football.
“We’ll set up to try to go and get all three points but players need to understand (that) they need to manage the game and manage it well, and manage the minutes within the game as well.”
He went on to say: “I think a lot of games this season have had a lot of meaning for us, and this is a massive game that has massive meaning for us. So look, the players need to understand, and what we’ve spoken about is that they need to manage the game and understand where the game’s at.
“If we’re getting peppered, we need to slow the game down. If we’re on top and we’re pinning them back in and we need to keep going at them and create those moments within the game.
“But you know, the way that we’ll set up tactically will hopefully allow us to get the desired outcome.”
