Sydney FC striker Mark Bridge says his side must nullify danger man Shane Smeltz if they are to return to the winner’s circle against the Wellington Phoenix on Sunday night.
Smeltz has set the Hyundai A-League alight this season netting 12 goals to lead all comers in the race for the Golden Boot award.
“I think if you close down Smeltz that’s pretty much them gone,” Bridge said on Friday.
“I mean he’s a great talent and I’d love to have him on this team.”
The Phoenix have dominated the Sydney siders in recent times having taken maximum points from both encounters this season.
Asked to account for his side’s lack of success against Wellington, Bridge explained: “They’re just a grinding team, similar to the Central Coast Mariners but not as technically as good as the Central Coast.”
“They match you physically, they hit you twice as hard, it’s just a matter of matching them on the field and being just as intense and having that little dirty player inside of you to match them with the tackles I guess.”
The Sky Blues have plummeted out of the Hyundai A-League top four on the back of four consecutive defeats and must win their remaining three matches to have any hope of making the post season.
Bridge says the team is desperate to finish the season on a positive note after a frustrating run of results.
“Things haven’t gone our way, call it what you want to call it, bad luck, playing bad, but we’re in the situation we’re in now and the boys want to finish as high as possible,” Bridge said.
He says while a number of factors have conspired against his side this season, they have only themselves to blame.
“There’s been a couple of games where both teams have played bad and they’ve (the opposition) got a lucky goal,” he said.
“But there’s been games where we’ve been 3-0 up and they’ve come back and beat us, so as much as some of it’s not our fault, some of it is. So no one is pointing the finger – it’s just one of those seasons I guess.”
