A-League Champions Sydney FC head to the Northern Territory to face Darwin Rovers on Wednesday in what is the FFA Cup Round of 32's 'David versus Goliath' contest. 

The Sky Blues broke almost every A-League record during their Premiership/Championship winning season but one trophy eluded them after a Tim Cahill goal saw Melbourne City win the 2016 FFA Cup.

Ninkovic may have won the Johnny Warren medal for player of the season and been the hero in the A-League Grand Final penalty shootout, but last term's Cup final loss haunts the Serbian.

“That was the worst feeling of last season,” he said speaking exclusively to FourFourTwo.

“Losing in the final is going to push us and help us to win the FFA Cup because this season we want to win every trophy in Australian football.

“If we want to be better this year, we have to win the FFA Cup and that is the only way we can do better than what we did last year.”

Sydney FC Captain Alex Brosque revealed that the Sky Blues have come up with a unique method to mimic the conditions they will face in the Northern Territory tomorrow night.

“It will be tough, we have been training in rain jackets to try and to get used to playing in the heat so it’s not too big of a shock when we get we get up there,” he said.

“We’ve had a couple of hit outs against State League teams already and the team is coming together quite well.

“It’s still very early. We’ve got a few players that are coming back from injuries and others who have just signed.

“But this will be a good hit out for us to see where we are in pre-season. We are aiming to win this competition. It’s one that got away from us last year and we want to start well and we will be well prepared to go up there.”

Ninkovic did not take part in the glamour post and pre-season friendlies against Liverpool and Arsenal but he said will be ready to take on the Rovers on Wednesday.

“I just started training four weeks ago but no excuses,” he said.

“The first competitive game of the season is always very tough to play but we are ready. We are going there to win and we know it will be tough game.

“We are Sydney FC, we were the best team in Australia last season and we want to show that we are still good enough to be the best again.”