Perth Glory deserve whatever is coming to them if found guilty of salary cap breaches, Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold says.
Glory face a deduction of competition points and/or hefty fines over allegations they exceeded the $2.55 million salary cap by a significant sum.
Any loss of points would have serious ramifications on who claims the Premier’s Plate with the race to the top the tightest it has ever been.
With just four rounds remaining, only two points separate the top five teams with Sydney FC, Melbourne Victory and Perth all equal on 41, just a point behind leaders Wellington, while Adelaide sit on 42.
Arnold on Thursday weighed in on the saga but while not being drawn on what penalties Perth should incur, he said they’d deserve whatever Football Federation Australia slap them with.
“If they have breached the cap then whatever penalty they get is deserved,” Arnold said on Thursday.
“That’s what the salary cap is there for and if clubs aren’t going to live by it then we may as well get rid of it and let the owners spend whatever they want.”
Arnold’s focus, however, is squarely on the Sky Blues’ final home game of the regular season against Adelaide on Saturday.
Marquee striker Marc Janko is due to return from international duty in Europe late on Thursday and Arnold is confident he’ll be fit to play in the Allianz Stadium encounter.
The Austrian skipper continued his goal-scoring blitz at international level finding the back of the net against both Liechtenstein and Bosnia-Herzegovina over the past week.
“Marc came off at half-time (against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Tuesday) and he’s already texted me and said he was fit,” Arnold said.
“He’s excited to come back, he’s looking forward to the game and he’s promised me a goal.
“But he have to see how he recovers from the flight.”
Terry Antonis, who has been battling a knee complaint since returning from the Socceroos’ triumphant Asian Cup squad in January, is also available to play.
“Terry’s in good nick now. We’ve had to manage him carefully since he got back from the Asian Cup,” Arnold said.
“But he’s done three days of good, solid training so he’ll be involved in some way on the weekend.”
Sydney will be without Shane Smeltz however, with the striker suspended for the next two games.
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