Sydney FC look to ACL for return to form

Failing to qualify for the AFC Champions League group stage may be a blessing in disguise for Sydney FC as they aim to arrest a worrying nosedive in form on the home front.

The Sky Blues face Filipino side Kaya FC in a one-off play-off at Jubilee Oval on Tuesday with qualification for Asia's top tournament on the line.

Getting through to the groups - where they would play South Korean outfit Jeonbuk, Vietnamese champions Hoang Anh Gia Lai and the Kevin Muscat-coached Yokohama F Marinos - comes with added risk for Sydney boss Steve Corica.

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Corica's team, who are enduring the worst run of his tenure, would have to spend three weeks in Ho Chi Minh City with the backlog of domestic games putting his squad's ALM finals hopes under severe threat.

"It's going to be extremely difficult," he said.

"It's difficult enough as it is with everything going on around us with COVID-19, injuries, players away with the national team.

"Then if we get through to the group stage we're going to be away for three weeks so a lot of (ALM) games will have to be brought forward for us.

"If we do (qualify) we will be playing every three days from here until the end of the season."

The Sky Blues boss has opted to exclude new Dutch signing Luciano Narsingh and Serbian Milos Ninkovic from his squad due to the AFC rules on foreign players.

Corica's side face Kaya on Tuesday before backing up against Western United on Friday in the A-League Men.

After their derby loss to the Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday, the Sydney boss has promised changes as they aim to snap a five-game winless streak.

"It's not about what we did last week," he said. "That wasn't one of our best performances.

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