Sydney FC coach Patrick Kisnorbo has promised to avoid allowing “emotion” to sway his decision on whether to start English star Joe Lolley in Saturday night’s do-or-die battle against Newcastle.
An A-League grand final berth will be on the line in the semi-final second-leg battle at McDonald Jones Stadium, with scores locked at 1-1 after last weekend’s first leg.
In his first appearance back from a long-term ankle injury, Lolley came off the bench last Saturday at Allianz Stadium.
Many believe that Sydney’s best chance of beating the Jets, the A-League premiers, is to play winger Lolley from the opening whistle in Newcastle.
However, Kisnorbo said he needed to be “smart” when deciding how best to use Lolley in a second leg that might also require extra time to find a winner.
“For me, it’s a balancing act,” the Sky Blues mentor said on Friday.
“Emotionally, you’d probably say yes (to starting Lolley), but also you’re going to be realistic as well, knowing where he’s come from.
“If you ask the player, he’ll probably always say that they’ll be able to start … but for me, it’s being realistic and knowing what’s best for the team.
“You’ve got to be smart. We’ll think about … what we’re going to decide going into (Saturday).”
During Lolley’s two-month absence, Sydney’s attack lacked genuine potency.
However, if given ample game time on Saturday night, the former Nottingham Forest man’s combination with Sky Blues striker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos could prove decisive.
Former Jets marksman Stamatelopoulos, who joined Sydney in February on loan from Scottish Premiership club Motherwell, has scored three times in 12 appearances for the five-time A-League champions, including a goal in the semi-final first-leg draw.
“Can he improve? Yes he can,” Kisnorbo said of Stamatelopoulos.
“He needs to understand that he can work and do more, which, if you ask him, I’m sure he’d say the same thing.”
While Stamatelopoulos threatens to spoil his former club’s party, the Jets have their own attacking threats that Sydney will need to nullify, including striker Lachlan Rose, who is poised to return from a calf injury.
Jets coach Mark Milligan was confident that not playing Rose – who is leaving Newcastle to join Scottish Premiership outfit Dundee United ahead of the 2026-27 season – in the first leg would benefit the player and his team on Saturday night.
“He’s back to his very best, and that’s why we made that decision to give him that extra week (off), because not just him, but a number of (Jets players) play a high-intensity brand of football, and that’s a part of who Lachie is,” Milligan said.
