Jason Culina ... ready to make Sydney debut on Friday night. Source: News Limited
Dismayed by his side's woeful display in losing 4-2 to Brisbane, Sydney FC caretaker coach Steve Corica will shake his team up for the visit of Adelaide United on Friday, including the long-awaited return of Jason Culina.
Barring any late reaction, Culina will be on the bench at Allianz Stadium while Adam Griffiths and Terry Antonis are likely to come into the starting line-up, with Corica lamenting a run of conceding 20 goals in seven games.
| P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adelaide | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 16 |
| 2 | Central Coast | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 14 |
| 3 | Newcastle | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | -2 | 12 |
| 4 | Perth | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
| 5 | Western Sydney | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| 6 | Victory | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | -4 | 10 |
| 7 | Wellington | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| 8 | Brisbane | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| 9 | Heart | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -1 | 7 |
| 10 | Sydney | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | -9 | 6 |
Corica admitted he would love to rush Culina back into the side but had to assimilate him gradually "to do the right thing by him" after so long out.
But there will be other changes against the league leaders, with Griffiths returning from a hamstring injury and Antonis back from international duty with the Young Socceroos.
"Jason can't start, but he's definitely available for the bench," Corica said.
"He's played 90 minutes for the youth team and did well physically. He's been training for over a month with the team now and there's a strong possibility he'll be in the squad.
"Of course I'd love to start him straight away but it's not possible at the moment. We want to do the right thing by him after not playing for two years. But yeah, you want to get the best team on the park and he'll definitely be in the team once he's fit."
Corica is aware he has to find a solution to the haemorrhaging of goals that leaves the side rock bottom of the A-League ladder.
The fact Adelaide's surge to the top has been masterminded by former FC coach John Kosmina adds piquancy to the fixture, but Corica had stark words to his own team.
"We've conceded 20 goals in seven games, so we've been working on defence - affecting the ball and making tackles," he said. "But we have to improve in attack as well - we are scoring goals but we have to do more with the ball.
"We've been defending so much and giving the ball away cheaply, we have to do better with it. We have to be able to keep the ball in attack, and the players who come in will definitely strengthen that."
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