The duo were due back in Sydney today with Kosmina confirming that Bridge could feature from the bench against Melbourne Victory tomorrow night but Musialik will not be involved.

The Sydney FC coach is well aware the duo will be feeling disappointed but says professional footballers have to look to the next challenge.

Kosmina, who will include four debutants in his squad tomorrow night, said: “That’s a consideration (the mental side) and that’ll have to be managed in the next few weeks but the thing is they’re professional players. You’ve got to put that behind you. It’s over and done with.

“Probably the mental side is easier to cope with than the physical side of it because tournament football is a lot more demanding than your day to day club stuff.

"They’ve been in a fairly intense pressure cooker environment for a number of weeks now, training every day. Here it’s different. You’ve got a home to go to.

“We won’t be using Stuey Musialik in the game (against Melbourne). It would have been game four in nine days for him and that’s too big an ask.

“I’ll probably look at using Bridgey off the bench but I’ll see how he feels. He said to me yesterday that he felt okay but he did cramp up during the game and they’ve had a long flight as well and he hasn’t had time to have a recovery. So we’ll see how he pulls up.

“I’m a big one on practising with the team. Mark and Stu haven’t been here for six weeks now. We’ve gone through a lot of stuff, especially in the last four or five days.”

Kosmina is confident that his injury-hit side can score goals tomorrow night.

Despite lacking John Aloisi, Alex Brosque and Brendon Santalab, the coach said: “I think we can score some goals and I think we have enough quality in the side to stop Melbourne scoring goals.

“We are going to come and play football. You have to be smart in certain situations. Melbourne are an experienced side that have played together a lot.

"Our guys are still almost at the getting to know you stage. I’m comfortable we can get a result.”

Kosmina is hoping the Sydney sporting public will be out in force for the game and predicts a tremendous atmosphere.

He said: “The Sydney-Melbourne rivalry exists in all sports.

"Melbourne’s fans are great in terms of how they support and the type of support they give. Our fans are better. Our fans create a fantastic atmosphere, second to none.

“We hope that all the fans behave themselves and the players behave themselves.

“I think we’ll get 15 to 20 (thousand) no problem. I can’t see an issue with it. People should turn up, there’s a lot on display.

"It’s good headline grabbing stuff isn’t it and people might want to be here to see something special.”

Experienced campaigner Steve Corica said: “It’s going to be a very difficult game but we are going out there to win. We’ve still got a lot of experienced players out there to lead the way.

“Melbourne are a very good team and we know we’re going to have to play well. We have to keep the ball against that team to do well against them.”