Sydney FC coach Frank Farina says not a single part of him will be happy for the Wanderers if they claim the Premier’s Plate, but he also says it’s not his focus.
Sydney FC coach Frank Farina says denying Western Sydney Wanderers the Premiers’ Plate is the furthest thing from his mind ahead of Saturday’s local derby.
The ladder-leading Wanderers will seal the premiership with a win over their cross-town rivals in front of a sellout crowd at Parramatta Stadium.
Tony Popovic’s men need a further two points from their final two regular-season fixtures to claim top spot, while the fifth-placed Sky Blues will have one foot in the finals if they can end the Wanderers’ winning run at 10 matches.
“They’ve been wonderful this year and my bet is they’ll get that Plate at some stage,” Farina said when asked if denying the Wanderers the premiership is an extra source of motivation.
“I’m not worried about that and it’s not about them counting their chickens or anything, it’s about us trying to get three points.
“It’s really more about us, and if that helps any of the players that’s great but I certainly won’t be mentioning it myself.”
Asked if any part of him would be happy for the Wanderers if they finish first past the post, Farina replied: “Not one part at all, but they will (win the premiership) and they’ll deserve it.”
There is mixed news for Farina on the injury front with captain Terry McFlynn to miss another week with a hamstring complaint, while Lucas Neill has recovered from a calf tear.
“Lucas has trained well,” Farina said.
“There was no point in risking it last week and he’s got through a reasonably heavy workload earlier this week.
“He’s definitely available and I’ll be deciding the final line up (Friday).”
Farina lamented McFlynn’s absence but concedes it’s a bonus to have almost a full complement of players to choose from at this stage of the season.
“The good thing is we’ve got pretty much everyone available apart from Terry McFlynn, which I’m a bit disappointed about because I thought he’d be okay for this week, but he’s the only one out so that’s a real positive,” he said.
The other major selection headache for Farina is whether or not to stick with goalkeeper Ivan Necevski or reinstate rookie Vedran Janjetovic.
Necevski was superb in the 1-1 draw with Melbourne after Janjetovic was dumped to the bench after arriving at the ground 20 minutes late.
Meanwhile, Farina says he has no issues with Socceroos coach Holger Osieck’s decision not to allow the national side to attend Saturday’s A-League blockbuster ahead of Tuesday’s crucial World Cup qualifier against Oman.
“I see the logic plus it’s very simple, there’s no seats left, not even for the Soceroos,” Farina quipped.
“I can see the logic with Holger and as he said, ‘it’s a very, very important game against Oman’, and their focus is on that and so it should be, that’s our national team.”
