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Hamstrung Ibini sweats on scan ahead of grand final

Bernie Ibini has reunited with good mate Mat Ryan at Club Brugge. (Photo: Peter McAlpine)
Roar Guru
30th April, 2017
2

Sydney FC winger Bernie Ibini will have a scan on Monday to determine the extent of a hamstring injury that could keep him out of Sunday’s A-League grand final.

Regular bench weapon Ibini replaced Filip Holosko 67 minutes into Saturday’s 3-0 semi-final win over Perth, but hobbled back off the pitch in injury-time holding the back of his leg.

Cagey coach Graham Arnold said the 24-year-old was fine, but the player himself admitted to being pretty sore and faces a nervous wait ahead of the showpiece match against Melbourne Victory at Allianz Stadium.

To miss out would be terrible luck for Ibini, who is back with the Sky Blues on loan from Club Brugge and has only just overcome a broken leg that sidelined him for an entire season.

Before the ill-fated move to Belgium, Ibini played in Sydney’s last grand final two years ago, a 3-0 loss to Victory at AAMI Park.

This time Arnold’s side have the home-crowd advantage and momentum to boot after a scintillating season that will be remembered in the history books for years to come.

With that legacy on the line and the mind games certain to start, the pressure to turn their premiership into the title will lift another notch this week.

Which is why Arnold is staunchly referring to the season-decider as “round 29” of the season, an endeavour to keep his players in the mindset that it’s just another game.

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“Nothing changes,” Arnold said.

“The field doesn’t change size, the goalposts don’t and the opposition doesn’t.

“So for me it’s important preparation is spot on.

“We’ve got a good turnaround of eight days so we’ll work hard during the week, recover well and be ready.”

The importance of routine hasn’t been lost on captain Alex Brosque, who’s made a point of keeping his leadership customarily light.

“If I start doing things different, start being more vocal or pass different messages, it can creep into the players’ heads that something’s different,” Brosque said.

“Arnie was all this week about routine, keeping things the same. So I didn’t change or do anything different.”

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