Joel King has one name on his mind as Sydney FC prepare for Saturday's must-win semi-final: Tomi Juric.
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The experienced striker was instrumental, scoring a brace in Adelaide United's 2-1 win over the Roar last week. And with fellow defenders Ryan McGowan and Rhyan Grant away on Socceroos duties, Shellharbour's King knows he needs to try shut down Juric for the Sky Blues to win at Kogarah.
"They'll be a tough team. They're pretty direct and got some guys up front who can hurt us. I'm not sure if (Craig) Goodwin is playing, but he's a good player. Tomi Juric is a good player. All in all, they're a decent side," King said.
"Tomi is a big guy, he's got a lot of experience playing for the Socceroos 40-odd times. We know he's a good player and it will be hard to stop him. But I'll back our defenders to do the job on him."
All is at stake on Saturday. The winner will progress to this year's A-League grand final, where they will either face Melbourne City or Macarthur FC. Sydney FC are looking to play in their third-straight decider, having prevailed in the past two.
King - who was part of last season's 1-0 grand final win over City - has continued to grow in strength this season, with the left back lining up in 26 games for Sydney FC. On Thursday, the 20-year-old received the May/June nomination for the A-League's Young Footballer of the Year.
With Grant unavailable this weekend, King said he had been given the license to try and attack more against Adelaide.
"I've been asked to do the same role, but there's been a few comments from the coach that I need to get forward more now that Rhyan Grant is with the Socceroos. But I'm just going to play my own game and hopefully I can contribute a bit more in the finals series," King said.
"At Sydney, our fullbacks are where we get our width from. We have to get forward, it's part of our job. I enjoy it a lot, there's a lot of running but it's good fun."
Sydney FC will head into Saturday's final full of confidence, having dropped only one out of their past 18 games. King admits the team had gained a huge boost from the mid-season acquisitions of forwards Bobo and Adam Le Fondre.
"Bobo is lethal in the box and Le Fondre is good everywhere. In defence, he's great and in front of goal, he's great as well," he said.
"I think they've helped us even more in defence. I think in the last two games, we've only conceded one goal. It starts from there and they give us a lot of confidence going into the finals."
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