Topor-Stanley back to shore up Wanderers defence

Western Sydney Wanderers captain Nikolai Topor-Stanley declared himself ready to return from injury for Tuesday night's crucial AFC Champions League (ACL) home game against Japan's Kashima Antlers.

ATopor-Stanley

Nikolai Topor-Stanley looks poised to resume captaincy duties after recovering from injury (Getty) Source: Getty Images Asia Pacific

The 29 year-old centre-back has missed his club's last two A-League games with a heel problem.

"I've had the last two games off my feet, which is I think has helped me feel fresh and I'm ready to go tomorrow," Topor-Stanley said.
The Wanderers, the defending ACL champions are third in the four-team group on five points - along with FC Seoul, with two rounds remaining, while Kashima is bottom with just three points from four starts.

"It's a big game tomorrow for both sides, they need to win to stay in it, if we win we knock them out," Western Sydney coach Tony Popovic said on Monday.

"In saying that we need to win I don't think that's an issue for us in these games.

"We've had many a big game for this club in the ACL where the pressure has been on and a result has been important.

"That hasn't fazed the players before.

"In the group stages so far we've put ourselves in a position that we can defend our (ACL) crown and we know tomorrow is a very important game."

The Wanderers go into Tuesday's game on the back of a win over Adelaide, which lifted them off the bottom of the A-League ladder.

Popovic was also buoyed by his team's 3-1 win over Kashima in Japan back in February.



"We played very well that day, we had a good result on the weekend," he said.

"We have players coming back from injury, so we're looking good for tomorrow night."

Kashima coach Toninho Cerezo described Tuesday's clash as a must-win game and said he learnt a lot from the earlier loss to the Wanderers,

"We had difficulties with the Wanderers height and physicality and their set pieces, so we've been preparing for those parts especially," Cerezo said.

"The last time we played in Japan we conceded three goals. One was a setpiece and two were individual mistakes.

"We created a lot of chances, but we couldn't execute.

"We've been training to execute this time and we just want to make sure in the final third."


Share
Watch the FIFA World Cup 2026™, Tour de France, Tour de France Femmes, Giro d’Italia, Vuelta a España, Dakar Rally, World Athletics / ISU Championships (and more) via SBS On Demand – your free live streaming and catch-up service. Read more about Sport
Have a story or comment? Contact Us

Watch the FIFA World Cup 2026™, Tour de France, Tour de France Femmes, Giro d’Italia, Vuelta a España, Dakar Rally, World Athletics / ISU Championships (and more) via SBS On Demand – your free live streaming and catch-up service.
Watch nowOn Demand
Follow SBS Sport
2 min read
Published 20 April 2015 3:22pm
Updated 20 April 2015 7:41pm

Share this with family and friends