Red card magnets Sydney FC aren't planning to play with 10 men against Western Sydney but, if they have to, they'll be prepared this time.
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Licking their wounds after a shock 3-1 loss to competition strugglers Newcastle, the Sky Blues are bent on wrestling back momentum when they host the A-League Men Sydney derby at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
Arguably one challenge could be finishing the game with 11 players on the field.
Ufuk Talay's charges were forced to play almost 60 minutes one man down for the fifth time this season when tempers flared between Robert Mak and Newcastle's Phillip Cancar.
Cancar went to ground after Mak, walking away from a verbal stoush between players, made glancing contact with the Jets defender's chin as he raised an arm.
Sydney were already without Jake Girdwood-Reich after the young defender was sent off in their mid-week outing against Perth four days before.
Denying the Sky Blues have a discipline issue, captain Luke Brattan is confident his side can avoid another send-off - especially given red cards have become a part of their training.
"We expect that now. The coaches make bad decisions at training when they're refereeing games so we're prepared for the weekend," Brattan said on Thursday.
"Looking back at them ... if they were clear red cards, we'd be having conversations about discipline.
"You can't really touch anyone in a tackle now. That's taken away the art of tackling.
"I've learned growing up that to tackle, you get the ball and you get the player. That's part of football."
Brattan watched Sydney FC's 4-1 monstering of the Wanderers in their last derby meeting from the sidelines after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season.
Stand-in captain Rhyan Grant had lit up CommBank Stadium in the third minute of the wet-weather skirmish with an electric header before Fabio Gomes notched a brace and Mak also scored.
Brattan is aiming to go full-throttle as his side charge towards finals.
"No one wants to lose a derby. It's pretty much like war. You put your body on the line in every moment," the defensive midfielder said.
"It's a must-win for us. Our finals aren't secured. We want to finish as high as we can on the table.
"We're solely thinking about ourselves and getting maximum points for the last three games."
Sydney will be without defensive aces Girdwood-Reich and Jordan Courtney-Perkins, with the two on Olyroos duty for the AFC U-23 Asian Cup.
Western Sydney lose Nicolas Milanovic and Lachlan Brook to the Olyroos.
Australian Associated Press
