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Neill, 35, missed last weekend’s confidence-boosting 2-0 home win over the Central Coast Mariners with a minor calf tear but according to his team-mate is a near certainty to be back marshaling the defence if fit to play.

The shaky-at-the-back Sky Blues put in a solid defensive display to shut down Graham Arnold’s men and hammer another nail in the coffin of the Gosford outfit’s back-to-back premiership hopes.

Coach Frank Farina might have been expected to stick by his winning team, with defensive pairing Tiago Calvano and Adam Griffiths at the centre of defence, but Ryall anticipates a quick return for the Socceroos skipper.

“I can’t imagine Lucas Neill being left out of the team if he’s fully fit,” Ryall told au.fourfourtwo.com.

“It’s a real positive that we’re in a position where we can put Lucas Neill into the back four – not a bad person to be bringing into a team that has already done well.”

Neill, who is a late-season pickup for Farina, has yet to play in front of a home crowd, which is expected to swell to 20,000 plus for the fiercely contested Big Blue.

He didn't train with the main group yesterday, instead jogging a couple of laps of the neighbouring pitch.

Joel Griffiths also stayed on the sidelines, going through through some stretching and gentle weights routines, while Brett Emerton was not seen.

Alessandro Del Piero went through his own training regime on an entirely different pitch, shunning the spotlight for a change.

But with a finals spot still riding on Sydney’s last three games of the regular season there’s plenty to play for, and plenty of extra spice for ex-Victory player Ryall.

The right-back scored his first goal in a Sky Blues shirt against his former club and this time around will be tasked with subduing livewire Marco Rojas.

“I’m really looking forward it and especially being our final match at home we want to send the fans off with something special to remember for next year as well,” Ryall said.

“It’s not going to be easy, they’ve got a lot of good quality players and we’ll have to be at our best to get something out of it.

“But I think beating Central Coast the way we did has given us the confidence that we can win. Six wins in a row at home isn’t bad either so we’re confident going into this match.”

Ryall returned from suspension last weekend to score his third goal of the season and help keep the fifth-placed harboursiders’ knife-edge playoff hopes alive.

Without the disruption of last season’s Olyroos duty, the 23-year-old has been one of the Sky Blues most consistent performers.

The team results may have been all over the shop but the former U20 skipper is reveling in learning from Sydney’s celebrated veterans. Among them, Neill, whose 2006 World Cup heroics proved inspirational for the young defender.

“He’s someone that I wanted to aspire to and hopefully have a career like him one day and now he’s playing next to me on the field – it’s massive,” Ryall added.

“There’s just that level of professionalism and the way he leads on the field and it’s a real honour to be playing with someone like that.

“Terry’s (McFlynn) been at the club a long time, Emerton’s played in the English Premier League for such a long time, Del Piero’s won the World Cup – there’s a lot of experience in this team it’s impossible not to learn.

“Just every day, day in day out, how hard they work to be in the position they’re in – it’s really good for the younger players coming through.”

There’s also extra incentive in the form of national team coach Holger Osieck who has been spotted in the stands at Sydney games.

Ryall is reluctant to mouth the words “shot at the Socceroos” but agrees the German’s attendance hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“I met him a couple of times when he watched the Olyroos qualifiers and he was in the camps and things like that,” he added.

“It’s good to see that he’s coming to the matches and watching. As a player, knowing that he’s at the matches and watching is quite a motivating factor.”

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