...Except that the promising centre-back is part of the stingiest defence in the A-League, conceding just 16 goals.

With only six matches left of the regular season, the league leaders are still five games short of reaching the 21-year-old’s ambitious target, but it would be a mug punter who bet against them.

Four of those clashes are at Bluetongue where coach Graham Arnold’s men are undefeated this season, having won eight of their nine home games.

They face a stern test on Saturday, overcoming a Melbourne Victory outfit desperate to keep their Premiership dream alive and bounce back from two defeats on the trot.

But Sainsbury is confident they can put the visitors to the sword and keep the fast-closing Western Sydney Wanderers at bay to move one step closer to back-to-back Premierships.

“I think people are underestimating how good this team is,” Sainsbury said. “We’re still top of the ladder and we’ve been there for 14, 15 weeks now.

“People writing us off but we like the underdog tag it suits us well I think. We’re a small team, we haven’t got any marquees.

“You look at Wanderers they’ve got something like six overseas players – we’ve only got three. The odds are pretty much against us and that’s probably how we like it.”

It’s been a breakthrough season for the Young Socceroo who had some big boots to fill following the departure of former skipper Alex Wilkinson.

But he says being part of the starting eleven, and playing alongside veteran Patrick Zwaanswijk, has taken his game to a new level.

“I feel a lot more confident out there on the ball,” he said.

“Arnie’s drilled it into me over the last couple of years when you’ve got the ball you’ve got to either keep it or do something with it – instead of just giving away a nothing ball.

“I’ve tried to put that into my game. He says if you can go forward and give the strikers some service do it – don’t be afraid – back yourself.”

Sainsbury is the first to admit he still has a lot of learn but says making his presence felt is the top of the list.

“That’s one of the things I’ve got to work on a lot more because Swanny’s a good communicator, Pedj (Bojic) and (Josh) Rose are good communicators, I’ve just got to try and bring my presence into the team as well,” he said.

“I’m always keen to learn off (Zwaanswijk). He’s great with the young boys, he’s always teaching us stuff and he’s a great communicator as well.

“There’s a reason we call him King Swanny – he’s a leader of the team and he’s an old head.”

The Mariners are determined to rebound from last week’s 2-1 loss to strugglers Perth Glory and provided they can rein in the likes of Marco Rojas and playmaker Marcos Flores, Sainsbury more than fancies their chances.

“I think we just take it as another game,” he said. “You can’t really say any game in the A-League is a clear three points.”

“If we can just treat it as another game and get on with it and not let emotions get in the way we’ll come away with the three points.”

A laidback character, the defender admits half the time he “doesn’t know who we’re versing until the video session”.

That isn’t to say he won’t put it all on the line, especially when there’s a Premiership and a 15 clean sheet target within reach.

“Arnie drills it into us that defensive structure is very key to winning championships,” Sainsbury said.

“Clean sheets might not win you games but they’ll win a season.”