Sydney FC sweat over Wilkinson after A-League loss to Melbourne Victory | Men’s league

Sydney FC await captain Alex Wilkinson’s nervous form after he failed to complete the game Men’s league season opener.

The Sky Blues began life at their newly-renovated Allianz Stadium in promising fashion on Saturday night despite a 3-2 defeat Victory in Melbourne.

There were plenty of encouraging signs for Steve Corica’s men in the final third, but injury to captain Wilkinson, who did not return from the half-time break, will be a cause for concern.

Wilkinson, 38, was seen icing his groin after the loss and with fellow centre-back Jack Rodwell also sidelined with an adductor problem, Sydney’s defensive depth is already being tested with just one game left in the season.

“Let’s see how he is [Wilkinson] pulling up,” said Koriko. “He trained with a little pain. In training, Jack groped the adductor in one of the stations.

“We’ll see about Wilkes, I’m not sure if he’ll be out next week. But when he leaves, that’s it [serious] “Otherwise, I probably would have stayed.”

Sydney played with new attacking flair after their off-season rebuild, bringing in exciting imports Robert Mack and Joe Lawley to spearhead their efforts in the final third.

Their return to the Allianz Stadium had one sad moment when some of the fans threw projectiles at Victory goalkeeper Paul Izzo as he tried to slow down the game.

“We wanted to keep the game going, but there wasn’t much left,” Corico said. “They are [Victory] just slowed things down, but that’s obviously the end game.

“They did it pretty well, but we don’t want bottles on the field.”

Corrico, whose side face defending champions Western United next Sunday, said he was inspired by the return of midfielder Luke Bratton after a long lay-off with an ACL injury.

“He shouldn’t have played that long, but he continued pretty well,” Corrico said. “I thought he was coming into the game more and more. It is very good that he is back.

“He plays well forward, defended well. He will only get better as his first game lasts the full 90 minutes. He’s been playing a lot for us and we’re obviously happy to have him back.”