In a bizarre and stop-start season, Sydney FC star Adam Le Fondre's focus has never faltered: he wants that A-League premiership.
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A near four-month wait will end this Friday night when the Sky Blues run on to Jubilee Stadium to face the Wellington Phoenix. The A-League resumes with Sydney FC leading by eight points at the top of the ladder.
And Le Fondre is keen to "finish off what we started" by clinching the title.
"I think the whole vibe is about finishing off what we started pre-COVID," Le Fondre told the Mercury.
"We've got six games left to obviously finish the job of the premiership and with the opportunity of going back-to-back in the grand finals which is something that's in our minds. But we won't get too ahead of ourselves, we've got to take care of the games in front of us before we can even think of those types of accomplishments."
However, the 33-year-old admits it's been an "incredibly tough season" for all A-League footballers.
"You get tested in so many ways as a footballer when you're playing, but even more so when you're not playing," Le Fondre said.
"When you're out of the norm... it's incredibly tough to continue on training with no real end in sight. It's just nice to be back in the full swing of things, it's perfect really. I think all the players as a group would agree with me that we can't wait to get started and finish off what we did start pre-COVID."
You get tested in so many ways as a footballer when you're playing, but even more so when you're not playing.
- Adam Le Fondre
Le Fondre joined Sydney FC in 2018 and made an immediate impact, scoring 16 goals as his club secured the championship title. He has arguably been more important in 2019/20, finding the back of the net 17 times (second best this season behind City's Jamie Maclaren).
"I just love playing football," the Englishman said.
"Sydney FC gave me the opportunity to play week in, week out and from that, I do what I do best and that's scoring goals. It's given me a real lease of life for football and I've got my enthusiasm back with the game, and I'd say I'm thriving off that."
The Sky Blues are in the Illawarra this week to run several holiday clinics and skills training programs.
The holiday clinics begin on Tuesday at the University of Wollongong's Oval One, while the STPs have started at the UOW fields and Albion Park's Terry Reserve.
Le Fondre said they were great programs for kids of all ages in the Illawarra.
"I think it shows why Sydney FC is such a big club. It's not just encapsulating one area, it's the surrounding areas that we reach out to show support to - as they do to us," the veteran forward said.
"They are the future of the game. You have to start them young to hope to breed them into the Sydney way of playing. Hopefully you get a few of them into the academy, they do the hard work and turn into future stars for Sydney FC themselves."