Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold called for his team to start becoming ruthless but after thier laborious win over Adelaide Untied, substance was all that mattered. Their 1-0 win over the Reds failed to deliver the performance that would inflict the lopsided result that Arnold demanded during the week, but their ability to hold firm against a determined home side was met with praise from Sydney's coach, according to fullback Luke Wilkshire.
Sydney mustered only three chances away from home but limited the hosts to only one clear-cut opportunity with an impressive defensive display. It was far from the prettiest of thier seven wins this season but the Sky Blues returned home brimming with confidence knowing they can find a way to win even with their backs against the wall.
"We were resilient, we had to do what we had to do. By all means it wasn't our best game. We had that belief and will to win amongst the boys and in the end I think that came through. We had that bit of quality to get the goal and defend as we did. That is a quality in itself," Wilkshire said.
The Sky Blues are grinding their way to the top of the table with more difficulty than last season but Wilkshire believes the players are developing a winning mentality to find victory from difficult circumstances.
"We have this mentality to win, we know what it takes to win. We know the defensive structure is important," he said. "Away from home in these kind of games, to have that mongrel in us to know how to win and the willingness to win got us through."
The 36-year-old supplied the assist for Brazilian striker Bobo with an overlapping run on the right flank on the stroke of half-time. Despite his age, he left younger players in his wake with a clever run and, since returning to the A-league, says he's had to learn how to outmanoeuvre younger players through more than just pace.
"I like to just call us the experienced players. I like to think of myself as just experienced not old. Age is a number and of course I'm obviously not what I was when I was 25 years old but in football you can make up that little lack of speed in other aspects of play," he said.
Wilkshire spent eight seasons in Russia playing for Dynamo Moscow and Terek Grozny and believes Australia's World Cup group draw has placed them in favourable locations. The Socceroos will begin their 2018 World Cup in Kazan which will be where their training base for the tournament will be, before travelling to Samara and Sochi. Wilkshire believes the warm weather in the south of Russia could favour the Australians against the likes of Denmark.
"The south of Russia, good climate and it's a holiday destination for Russia. Samara is nice, the weather will be good there so I think it's a great draw with great locations of the games. I think it could be a successful World Cup for Australia," he said.
The former Socceroo believes Australia's draw in Group C alongside France, Denmark and Peru is favourable and gives them a realistic hope of progressing to the second round.
"If you look at it, the possibility of the draw you could have received to what we did receive, it's positive. It's by no means an easy group - it never was going to be an easy group - but it's definitely a group I think we can get through," Wilkshire said.
