Experienced Sydney FC midfielder Karol Kisel has backed teenager Terry Antonis to step into Brett Emerton’s shoes and help continue the Sky Blues resurgence against the Perth Glory on Saturday night.
Experienced Sydney FC midfielder Karol Kisel has backed teenager Terry Antonis to step into Brett Emerton’s shoes and help continue the Sky Blues resurgence against the Perth Glory on Saturday night.
Emerton will miss Sydney’s trip to Perth due to international duty with the Socceroos for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Oman and Thailand.
The loss of the former Blackburn star is a blow for the Sky Blues, especially as Emerton played his best game for the club in Sunday’s come-from-behind 3-2 win over Gold Coast United.
Antonis is expected to come straight back into Vitezslav Lavicka’s side for the difficult trip to the West after a successful Asian Championships qualifying campaign with the Young Socceroos.
The 17-year-old played in three of the under-19 side’s four games and will fly straight to Perth on Wednesday to prepare for the clash with the Glory, before the rest of the Sydney squad arrive on Thursday.
“He can handle it. He’s just 17 so there’s no worries at that age,” Kisel told reporters on Wednesday.
“I think he can do very well. I can remember once I was 17, I had no worries and everything was easy.”
“We just need to do our job, everybody has got his role and it’s just enough to do your own role.”
Lavicka admitted the loss of Emerton was a blow but said his side was full of confidence after a string of impressive fightbacks over the last three weeks.
The 2009-10 champions have come from behind for the last three weeks, picking up two wins and a draw to sit in fourth place.
“It’s positive news for all of us,” the Sydney boss said.
“We’ve played some tough games early in the season and the boys showed strong character.”
Defender Jamie Coyne, who goes up against his former club on Saturday night, added on the fightbacks: “It means we’re not quitting even though things are down for us in the game.”
“Even though we’ve been down in those games we’ve been creating a lot of opportunities to score.”
“It’s just a matter of us putting the ball in the net first. In each game we’ve created four or five opportunities in the first half but just haven’t taken them. If we do that we’ll be fine.”
Lavicka said striker Bruno Cazarine was in line to earn a starting spot after starring off the bench against the Gold Coast on Sunday.
The Sky Blues have a strong record in Perth, losing just once in nine clashes in the west, with four wins and four draws.
