Sydney FC midfielder Stuart Musialik insists complacency won’t be an issue when the joint competition leaders face a desperate Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday.
The 24-year-old admits the last-start win over Newcastle lifted his side’s spirits following consecutive defeats but says the Sky Blues can’t afford to take Frank Farina’s men lightly.
“If we’d lost on the weekend we could have slipped a fair way down the table so it was good to get the win and stay up top but it’s still very tight,” Musialik said.
“It’s not like we’ve broken free or anything, we were happy with the win but we’ve got to forget about that and worry about next week.”
“You need to grab points on the road and you definitely have to try winning every game at home but any points you can grab on the road, especially against teams like Brisbane is definitely very important and it’ll come in handy at the end of the year.”
While careful not to get carried away with their early season success, Musialik admits the character shown against the Jets is a major positive.
“I think as a unit we definitely are a lot closer and I think as a team we definitely play a lot more like a unit this year which, in tough games where you have to battle it out for the last 15-20 minutes, if you’re not a close-knit unit … you usually let those ones slip,” he explained.
“So I think in that side of the game we have developed a lot more this year.”
Meanwhile, the talented midfielder admits his struggle to break into the senior side this season has served as a major reality check.
The Round 7 clash against Newcastle marked his first Hyundai A-League appearance of the season.
“You think maybe the first week or two I’ll be out and then eventually it’s four weeks and five weeks and six weeks and you start thinking to yourself geez, how many more weeks is this going to go for,” he said.
“I suppose it makes you realise that maybe you take playing for granted a bit sometimes, so it makes you definitely appreciate the game a lot more.”
Asked to rate his chances of retaining his spot after Lavicka confirmed Slovakian import Karol Kisel would return from illness this week, a cautious Musialik replied: “I’ll just keep training hard and keep doing what I’m doing and hopefully I’ll get a gig.”
Of the prospect of partnering Kisel in central midfield he added: “I definitely enjoy playing alongside Karol, I don’t think it would be a problem but I suppose that’s up to Vitezslav.”
Steve Corica is the other candidate to play alongside Kisel although Lavicka could opt to shift Alex Brosque back to the left wing after playing him up front with Mark Bridge last week, allowing the captain to play up front and relegating Adam Casey to the bench.
