Sydney FC defender Shannon Cole said the Sky Blues are prepared to continue to grind out results and put their attacking flair on the backburner if it means moving up the Hyundai A-League ladder and salvaging their season.
After a tumultuous opening to the 2010/11 campaign the Sky Blues are starting to build some momentum over the last few weeks with two wins and a draw from their last three games.
The improvement has them off the bottom of the table for the first time in more than two months and – while there is still some ground to make up – the top six is suddenly starting to come into view again.
But the club’s mini-resurgence has been more about their ability to wear down their opponent and toil for a result rather than the fluent passing and attacking game that was a hallmark of their championship success last season.
And the Sydney right-back said his team-mates are happy to continue to that trend in coming weeks and roll up their sleeves to ensure they get to where they want to be.
“We’ve just got to stick to our guns, especially with the way that we’ve been going ” Cole said on Wednesday.
“We didn’t have great performance last week but we worked hard and got the result that way.”
“We’ve got to try and do the same this week.”
“They’re (Gold Coast) a good team with a lot of dangerous players.”
“We’ve got to be careful and be switched on for the full game.”
Asked if the squad always believed they could turn things around while they were enduring their 10-game winless start to the season, Cole said: “Not much has changed since pre-season when we were really confident we’d have a great start.”
“That didn’t happen but we stuck together and kept doing the right things until things changed.”
And things have picked up over the last three weeks with two wins against Perth and Newcastle either side of a hard-earned draw with the in-form Brisbane Roar.
But the Sky Blues will have to overcome a horror record against the Gold Coast to keep their recent improvement going.
Sydney have never beaten Miron Bleiberg’s troops in their short history in the Hyundai A-League, losing all three matches last season, with the two side’s playing out a 1-1 draw earlier this season.
“That’s in the past now,” Sydney coach Vitezslav Lavicka said of his team’s struggles against the Gold Coast.
“When we played against them here in Sydney this season, we had a really good performance but only got a draw.”
“Now is another challenge is coming for us.”
“We know they are a good team, especially at the moment they’ve had a good period unbeaten.”
Sydney get defender Sung-Hwan Byun back from a hamstring injury this weekend but striker Mark Bridge is likely to miss another week with his groin strain.
Bridge trained away from his team-mates on Wednesday and Lavicka said he’s not willing to take any unnecessary risks with the 25-year-old attacker.
“He’s still is a chance but he’s still got a special training program,” the Sky Blues boos said.
“If he’s 100 percent ready he will play but if not we need to save him.”
“It’s unlucky for us that we play on Friday so we have a very short week this week.”
