Despite a lack of sleep and a long travel schedule, Socceroos Mile Sterjovski and Jacob Burns say they will be fit to play against Sydney FC, in Sunday’s blockbuster at ME Bank Stadium.
Despite a lack of sleep and a long travel schedule, Socceroos Mile Sterjovski and Jacob Burns say they will be fit to play against Sydney FC, in Sunday-s blockbuster at ME Bank Stadium.
Along with goal-keeper Tando Velaphi, the trio returned to Perth on Friday, after Australia-s 2-2 draw to Kuwait on Wednesday.
“I-m feeling as good as can be. It was a long flight but I-m kind of used to it now. I just want to use these next couple of days to get over it and be ready for the game.
“I-d love to play 90 minutes. We-ll see how we go at training in the next couple of days but I-m pretty confident I can play 90 minutes,” Sterjovski said.
Desperate to make it two wins on the trot, the three players wasted no time getting back into action, training with their team mates just hours after arriving home.
“It-s always tough with the logistics of it all and getting back for a game but some of the other players have got a tougher schedule.
“We-ll be fine, we-ll get a couple of days of training in and we should be fine for it,” Burns said.
Sterjovski was the only one of the trio who featured in the Asian Cup qualifier, and he believes Australia did well to get a point in difficult conditions.
“It started off really well, going 2-0 up in the first 5 minutes considering the playing conditions and the pitch I think we did pretty good especially the first 35-40 minutes.
“It was unfortunate that we let them back into the game after that, but we maintained the pressure in the second half and I think it was a pretty fair result in the end.”
But the focus is now on Sydney, the A-league-s top team, who will be minus stars Simon Colosimo and Alex Brosque.
“Alex is a great player and Sydney is going to miss him but we-ve got to try and take that chance for us.
“They-re missing a couple of great players with Colosimo suspended, saying that it-s not going to be an easy game, we-re going to have to play at our best and that-s a good chance to get the ball rolling for us,” Sterjovski said.
The sky blues have bolstered their squad this week by signing former Glory defender Hayden Foxe and Sterjovski agrees the Foxe will be out to prove a point.
“Hayden is a great player and I guess he-s had a lot of experience before. I think the advantage for us is that he hasn-t played in a while but I-m sure he-s going to be up for the game given it-s his old squad.”
Coming into round 22, the Glory are in fifth position on the A-League table after beating the Newcastle Jets 4-nil on Boxing Day.
