Football
Adrian Warren 4y

Sky Blues not by affected by smoky Sydney

Sydney FC coach Steve Corica says the smoky haze enveloping the Harbour City this week hasn't affected his in-form A-league side in the lead-up to Saturday's home game with Brisbane.

FFA on Friday said an easterly wind change forecast for Saturday afternoon was expected to provide an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading at a satisfactory level, allowing the match at Kogarah's Netstrata Jubilee Stadium to be played in Sydney's south.

Corica said the team had trained and prepared as normal, although they could see and smell the smoke.

He said Sydney had started training a couple of days earlier this week due to the heat, but insisted the smoke hadn't made it more difficult.

"With the smoke, there's been no issues - it's business as usual," Corica said.

"We've been having short sessions anyway because of the heat."

"We we wanted to get them in and out of the heat and freshen them up for the game because we've had a couple of big weeks in travel with Perth and then Western United.

"Obviously, it (the smoke) is a concern for everyone, but our focus is only on playing the game."

He said Brandon O'Neill had a sore knee and would be checked on Saturday, but fellow midfielder Milos Ninkovic was available after missing last week's match through sickness.

Corica wouldn't confirm Ninkovic would go straight back into the starting line-up, with his replacement Anthony Caceres performing well last week.

The Sydney coach wasn't surprised Macarthur United, the new Sydney team which will start in the A-League next season, had reportedly shown interest in signing Ninkovic.

"We want to keep Ninko, we've been negotiating with Ninko now for a while and we'll do our best to keep him," Corica said.

Brisbane beat the Sky Blues 2-0 in Sydney in this season's FFA Cup.

Corica noted Roar coach Robbie Fowler had changed his system from a back five to a four and said Sydney had prepared for both.

Sydney have won all four previous A-League games at Saturday's venue, outscoring their opposition 11-2 across those matches.

Stats that matter:

* Brisbane have won only one of their past 19 A-League games away from home, losing 13 and drawing five

* Sydney FC have scored the opening goal five times this A-League season and have gone on to win all five of those fixtures

* The Roar are yet to score a first-half goal this season; however, no team has scored more second-half goals than them (8) this campaign.

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