Ufuk Talay is challenging his Sydney FC side to maintain their full-throttle philosophy as they prepare for a derby against Western Sydney Wanderers without Luke Brattan.
Influential Sydney skipper Brattan will miss next Saturday’s trip to CommBank Stadium after picking up his fifth yellow card of the campaign in the Sky Blues’ 1-1 draw with Melbourne City.
Brattan will receive an automatic one-game ban, robbing Talay of one of his most dependable senior players for what shapes as a pivotal clash in the battle for a spot in the top six.
“He was pretty gutted in the changing room that he’ll miss the derby,” Talay said.
“These things happen within the games and there's going to be yellow cards and red cards and again with suspensions, opportunities arise for other players.”
Sydney sit in sixth spot, one point behind the Wanderers, who moved up to fourth on Saturday with a 2-1 win over Adelaide.
Talay’s side suffered a 1-0 loss in the first derby of this season in what was just his second game at the helm of the club.
But the Sydney boss says his side, undefeated in their last six A-League Men games, are in a much stronger position than they were in the last meeting back in November.
“They’re playing at home but with the way we want to play we are on the front foot so we're going to go there to try to win," Talay said.
“We're not going to sit back and defend our goal.
“We're going to go and attack their goal and I think we've come a long way from where we were since that game and it still hurts me, the loss.”
Leftback Joel King is expected to be available for selection against the Wanderers, while defender Jack Rodwell is nearing a return to fitness.
Talay’s only concern will be over striker Fabio Gomes, who failed to finish the draw with City.
“I think it is a cork, I haven’t spoken to the medical team but we’ll find out (how bad it is),” Talay said.
