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Coach Branko Culina has promised a rejig of the midfield after he was dismayed by the team’s performance against Perth Glory last weekend, despite their comeback to snatch a draw at the death.

And Juninho’s first team place hangs in the balance depending on how he fares against Adelaide United this week.

Culina said he would a final decision on The Little Fella's future in the wake of the weekend's match.

“We need to rejig the midfield,” said Culina after training today. “We need to be more competitive and we need to keep the ball more.

“Unfortunately Juninho is one of the players who would be doing that for us but hasn’t been able to do so because of injury and fitness.

“The Juninho situation is quite a difficult one. On the one hand you have a player that is your marquee player and costs the club a lot of money. If you don’t play him, you get nothing out of him.

“If you do play him and he’s carrying significant injuries and he can only give you 50 percent that’s still better than nothing. The question is: is that 50 percent better than what we could be getting from somebody else?

“The last two weeks, the answer has been no. It hasn’t been enough.”

The Brazilian World Cup winner has been struggling with fitness since taking an awkward fall in a challenge with Adelaide's Ange Costanzo in round two when he ripped the tendons from his shoulder.

He’s now back in the team but will need surgery at the end of the season to fix the injury properly, and has been struggling in the physical side of the game so far.

"It’s really something he has to deal with for the rest of the year,” said Culina."It’s not a case of resting him for three or four weeks. If that was the case, then I think we would risk it.

“It’s one or the other – it’s no Juninho or it’s 50 percent Juninho. We have to work that out to see which is better.

“We will have changes in the middle of the park, looking for the right formula. I am sure we can get it and we’ll be looking at Saturday with a few different possibilities.”

He added: “Ruben Zadkovich is one of them. He gives us a little bit of aggression and speed which is what we haven’t got.

“Against Perth Glory, we were very poor in that department which meant there was so much more pressure on the defence. And after constant pressure, the defence was found wanting.”

Culina believes Sydney’s next two games against Adelaide and Central Coast Mariners could be the turning point in the season for the club.

“It is vital for us to get back into the points from these games if we really want a chance of being in the top two places at the end of the season,” he said.

“It’s critical because we are playing two teams that are where we want to be. Both are at home and our record at home has been pretty ordinary so we want to change that.

“These games are absolutely critical for us – but I’ve been saying that right throughout the year.”

He added: “Adelaide are certainly playing very well and this game will give us a better idea of where we are.

“I don’t think we played well at all against Perth but to get a draw and fighting back from 3-1 down is exceptional.

“It’s the first time the team’s short history that we’ve come back from two goals down. There’s a positive we have to take away from it.

“It just goes to show you can never write this team out. Four weeks ago people were talking about Sydney being in dire straits but since then we’ve had two wins, an unlucky loss and a draw.”

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