De Jong sat on the bench until the 67th minute and only lasted another 20 before injuring his hamstring as he stretched for the ball.

The Dutchman's history of injuries at Ajax and Newcastle United has curtailed his career and he now looks certain to miss the Cup decider on Tuesday night.

The Sky Blues won the derby at the SCG 2-0 but were forced to play out six minutes of stoppage time with 10 men after the 30-year-old left the pitch.

Corica told Fox Sports: “He was a little bit sore in training (before the match) but he got through it no problem and basically we wanted to rest him for the Cup on Tuesday.

“We’ve got three games in six days, which is difficult enough, but we wanted to give him an opportunity to play in the Cup…unfortunately it didn’t work out.”

Corica said the full extent of the injury was unknown: “He looked devastated on the bench but no update yet.”

It was better news for Sydney’s other import Adam Le Fondre who scored on four minutes before captain Alex Brosque sealed the points after the break in his 200th game for the Sky Blues.

Le Fondre's opener makes it two goals from two games for the Englishman who was brought in to replace last season's Golden Boot winner Bobo.

Corica admitted the 31-year-old striker was a very different beast to the less mobile but prolific Brazilian.

“We had Brosquey dropping a little bit and Adam making those forward runs, he loves making them forward runs which is a great outlet for us,” Corica said.

“He’s really settled in well. He’s scoring the goals – there’s not much more we can ask of him.  He work’s hard in defence and keeps scoring, that’s the main thing.”

   'This VARce is ruining the game'     

     Sydney Derby player ratings     

     Sydney Derby pic special     

The win was overshadowed by another VAR controversy which saw a goal by Wanderers forward Roly Bonevacia scrubbed out just on the hour. But the Sydney FC boss was reluctant to be drawn into a debate about the future of the video ref.

“That’s not my department to talk about," Corica added after securing his first A-League derby win at the helm of the Sky Blues.

"Mine’s about sorting our football team out and looking forward now to the Cup game on Tuesday night which we’re very much looking forward to.”