Sydney FC coach Steve Corica admits the club is on the lookout for a striker with some speed in time for their Asian Champions League campaign.
The Sky Blues’ unbeaten run over the opening month of the A-League season was brought to an end with a 2-1 defeat to rivals Melbourne Victory on Sunday.
And moments after suffering his first defeat as coach, Corica lamented a lack of opportunities in front of goal despite a slight advantage in possession.
Sydney FC enjoyed 54 percent of the ball at Jubilee Stadium, but had seven shots compared to Melbourne’s eight.
“We would’ve like to have threatened more. I think we threatened a lot more than what they did. The scoreline doesn’t show that,” Corica said.
While the title heavyweights still lead the league in conversion rates so far this year, Corica has kept a keen eye on adding to his strike force.
The club has yet to sign a replacement for Trent Buhagiar, who had rocketed into first-team reckoning in the pre-season but tore his ACL on the eve of the season.
The pacey Buhagiar was the team’s leading scorer during the FFA Cup, while star import Siem de Jong also remains sidelined with a hamstring injury.
“We’ve got a little bit of time before January, but we’ve already started looking and there’s a few options at the moment,” Corica said.
“With Buhagiar out, he was a big threat with his pace. If we can find someone like that, that’d be great. Otherwise we’d have to look for something else.”
Corica refused to make any excuses for his team’s second straight loss to their arch rivals, including their controversial semifinal defeat last season.
He insisted defender Jop Van Der Linden would learn from the brain-snap that resulted in the eventual game-winner, while their new home in Kogarah proved a hit. The 19,081 crowd was a sellout.
“We don’t make any excuses, this was a great venue,” Corica said.
“It was a great crowd and great atmosphere. There was no excuses with that field, the field was perfect. We’re looking forward to winning our next game here.”
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