Sydney FC midfielder Anthony Caceres is confident the goals and wins will start flowing for the team after they broke through for their maiden victory of the A-League Men season.
The Sky Blues started the season uncharacteristically slowly, posting two draws and two losses from the opening four rounds to find themselves near the foot of the table.
Sydney scored just two goals over those four games in a stark difference to their reputation for being one of the highest-scoring teams in the league.
But last week’s 2-1 win over Wellington Phoenix has helped Sydney regain their swagger, and they’ll be aiming to make it two in a row when they take on ladder leaders Macarthur FC at Campbelltown Stadium on Sunday.
Caceres said the win over Wellington had been a big confidence boost.
“I think that gets the monkey off our back,” Caceres told AAP.
“We were really craving that first win. The performances have been reasonably good.
“We were lacking in that final third early on in the season, but we are starting to gel a lot more now.
“Getting the win will give us more confidence to keep improving and keep threatening to score more goals.”
Macarthur have reeled off four straight wins to jump to the top of the ladder.
The 1-0 victory over Sydney in round two kick-started the winning run, but Caceres feels the Sky Blues deserved the points that day.
“I felt when we played them we dominated the game,” he said.
“They got a somewhat scrappy goal early on, and from then on it was tough to break them down.
“At that point in the season we were still a bit disjointed going forward. I think we’ve got more fluency in that department now.”
Nine A-League Men clubs – including Sydney – have been hit by COVID-19 cases, and Caceres said the player group were treading carefully.
“We’re just trying to not get out and about unnecessarily,” he said.
“Just try to stick to the routine of going to training and then going home – avoiding crowds more than anything.
“It’s a tricky time. It’s spreading like crazy at the moment, and the priority is to keep ourselves and our families safe, as well as everyone in the football world.”
