Sydney FC coach Steve Corica says his side must not underestimate struggling Melbourne Victory as the sides prepare to do battle in the latest Isuzu UTE A-League Big Blue.
“They’re a good team, they have some good attacking weapons,” he said.
“I know (Tony Popovic) very well and he’s a very good experienced coach but you know, it happens and they’re trying to work their way out of it.”
Victory have won only twice since the end of December and now languish at the bottom of the ladder after drawing with Adelaide on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Sky Blues’ four-game winning streak came to an end on Saturday when Melbourne City broke them down 3-2,
The Sky Blues will hope to replicate their last Victory clash where they defeated Popovic’s side 2-1 in January.
At the other end of the pitch, Victory will look to bring some pizzazz from their unexpected 3-2 win over City two weeks earlier in order to remain in finals contention.
“No one expected us to get that result,” Popovic said.
“We played very well that day and against Adelaide last week we did too, so our performances have been more consistent.”
The visitors will be without Jake Brimmer for up to 12 weeks after he tore the meniscus in his left knee in Sunday’s clash.
Popovic said the midfielder underwent surgery this week and his recovery time was yet to be determined.
“We’ve been told everything went successfully and we’ll just wait and see,” he said.
“(Brimmer) will be missed, there’s no doubt about that, he’s such a talent but we feel we can cover that gap with the players we have.”
Jack Rodwell and Jaiden Kucharski will be available for the Sky Blues after returning from injury last week.
