 |
|
Sydney's Rudan ruled out of Queensland clash [Wed Sep 21st, 2005]
Sydney FC's early season woes have continued, with skipper Mark Rudan ruled out of Friday's crunch A-League clash with the Queensland Roar in Brisbane.
Former Australian international defender Rudan picked up a cork near his hamstring in last week's 3-2 loss to Central Coast.
He was expected to play earlier in the week, but coach Pierre Littbarski said Rudan was struggling to run with the injury and would not be risked.
"I think he got a slight hamstring injury, so he can't sprint," Littbarski said of Rudan.
"It's tough, but I think we have still players there like Jacob Timpano, who can jump in that hole and do something productive."
Sydney travel to Brisbane on Thursday on the back of a two-game losing slide and with just one win from their first four games.
Luck, though, has largely eluded Littbarski's side.
Against the Mariners, it took a stoppage-time free kick from Central Coast skipper Noel Spencer, which took a cruel deflection off a charging Alvin Ceccoli, to break a 2-2 deadlock.
Sydney had been the better team for the last 20 minutes of the match, but could not find the winner after Dwight Yorke equalised in the 72nd minute.
Littbarski said his side had responded well to the disappointment in training this week.
"The players have been very focussed in training because we know we've got to pick up the points in Queensland," the coach said.
"We've had four very good training sessions. The players want to turn around their bad luck."
AAP
News headlines from around the world.