The AFC allow each ACL team to field a maximum of four foreign players, one of whom must be from another Asian country.

Sydney announced their 25-man ACL squad last week with South Korean defender Sung-Hwan Byun squeezed out in favour of Japanese midfielder Hiro Moriyasu.

The other three non AFC visa players are Swiss Stephan Keller, Brazilian Bruno Cazarine and Northern Irish skipper Terry McFlynn (who comes under the foreign category because he hasn't been an Australian citizen for the required 12 months).

Finnish striker Juho Makela was also left out as the Sky Blues prepare for Asia’s premier club competition against K-League power Suwon Bluewings tomorrow night in match day one.

Cole said the 3+1 rule didn't make sense to him. “I don’t really understand it – especially the Asian rule. If we’re part of the Asia Confederation, I don’t understand why there’s a limit,” he told au.fourfourtwo.com.

“My opinion is if you’re part of the AFC, you should be able to have as many AFC players as you want. In Europe I assume it’s like that. You can have as many EU players in the team as you want.

“Why should that rule be any different here? It’s obviously an unfortunate situation for individuals to miss out for those reasons.”

However AFC Director of Competitions Tokuaki Suzuki is right behind the current system and has stated the 3+1 rule will expand to also include the AFC Cup.

Meanwhile Cole, 26, says the re-signing of coach Vitezslav Lavicka heralds some much needed stability at the club.

And he pointed to the Sky Blues’ eye-catching domestic form in 2011 – unbeaten in the A-League – as a sign that the club was far from in crisis, as some media have suggested after the resignation of CEO Edwin Lugt.

“That word stability is something that this club hasn’t really been familiar with over the first six years of the A-League," said Cole. "So it’s [Lavicka's re-appointment] is a good starting point to build on that.

“For quite some time there’s been a lot of uncertainty. Just to have that out of the way is good."

As Sydney begin their second tilt at Asian glory following their group stage exit in 2007, Cole said it was a chance for players in the squad to step up.

“These are big games, there’s something on the line and we’re looking to make the most of our opportunity.”

One player who made the most of his opportunity was Sky Blue striker Joel Chianese.

The 21-year-old scored the winner against Sydney United a week ago in a friendly and could be a dangerous and relatively unknown option for Suwon to face.

Likewise new faces on short –term deals Andrew Durante and David Williams have slipped easily into the Sydney FC set-up.

“They’re good players and good guys. And they’re familiar with us as a team. So it doesn’t take too much to gel, judging by how we’re going with them in training,” said Cole.

On Monday, Cole, Scott Jamieson and Rhyan Grant were out promoting the ACL at Sydney’s Martin Place.

A crowd of up to 10,000 is tipped for Wednesday night’s opening ACL group encounter against the K-League outfit.

“Suwon’s strength will be their technique on the ball and their strength and mobility so we have to try negate their strengths and work to ours,” said Cole, who is likely to play at right back.

“Hard work is a big part of it. We’re just coming off a season and they’re about to start one. They’ll be good and they’ll be technical.”

He added: “But it’s still just a game of football. It’s 11 guys versus 11 guys.”