There have been reports the Melburnians will never see Fornaroli in a City shirt again over an alleged fall out with coach Warren Joyce.

But Brattan insists the speculation hasn’t affected him, nor has he paid any attention to it.

“He seems fine,” Brattan said. “I’m good mates with Bruno, he’s one of my best mates and that’s football. It is what it is for whatever reasons going on.

"Once you step on the field, it’s mind on the job. Personally, it didn’t affect me, so it is what it is. I don’t really read the paper that much and I don’t have Twitter. I have Instagram and that’s it.

"I didn’t see an awful lot, but everyone talks about it. He’s a big player, he’s been one of City’s best, if not one of the A-League’s best foreigners.

“His goalscoring record is unbelievable and he’s a great guy and the fans love him, so of course it’s going to make some noise, but it is what it is and we get on with it.”

Brattan celebrates scoring a screamer last week. By Matt McIndoe/MJM Photography

Brattan also knows what it feels like to be left out of the squad, after he was dropped for their clash against Wellington Phoenix in Round 4.

He scored a contender for goal of the season in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Newcastle Jets, but believes he can still improve his game.

The 28-year-old said the key thing was how a player reacts to getting dropped.

“If you react positively and work hard in training and train well, there’s always a way back in,” he added.

“I said to the gaffer that, ‘I’ll be annoyed if I come off in the 85th minute and we’re 4-0 up’, that’s just who I am.

"I want to play every minute of every game and if I get left out, brought off or left on the bench, I’ll be pissed off.

“I play the game because I love it. Warren has his reasons – like in my case, he had his reasons as well.”