The side is yet to post a win in the Pre-Season Cup tournament, with one loss and two draws seeing them at the bottom of their group. Rudan believes however, preparations remain on track and admitted the tournament is low on Sydney FC’s priorities.

“The results are disappointing but I think a lot of people don’t realise what our bigger picture is and that’s August 24,” he told au.fourfourtwo.com.

“Our whole pre-season from start to finish has been to get the aim and focus ready for then and the pleasing thing is our fitness. When we were down 3-0 against Newcastle we managed to fight back and score two late goals. From a purely physical perspective, we’re on track.

“There are little things that we have to iron out and you can only do that through games. No one likes to lose but the bigger goal is August 24. If you honestly asked me who has won the past two Pre-Season Cups I couldn’t tell you. I can tell you who the last two Champions of the A-League were.

“Someone even asked the same question about the AFL and who won their Pre-Season Cup. It’s funny that the team that won that won the AFL Cup is in the bottom three now. I’m not saying that’s going to happen but no one really cares about it… we don’t really care about it to be honest with you.”

Rudan believes the club’s experience in the Asian Champions League and new players will be more important over the course of the season.

“I’m looking forward to the year. It’s a big year hopefully, for the club. We want to get that championship that we lost to Melbourne last year. We’re coming off the back of a good Champions League run. It’s a pity we didn’t make the quarter-finals but I thought that the boys played as well as they could and it’s always good to have a few fresh faces in the squad… it always freshens things up.”

Sydney FC will host the Central Coast Mariners in the first round of the A-League.