“It’s pretty exciting (to be facing my former club),” Timpano said.

“I was there at day one. Sydney FC opened its doors (for me) as one of the inaugural players so I’ve got a lot of special memories.

“It’s a club that’s close to me, so it’s exciting coming up against my former club and to coach against Arnie who I had in the Olyroos and Bimbi (Steve Corica) who’s a good mate and ex-teammate of mine. It’s something I’m looking forward to.”

But as with every good footballing friendship, Timpano said it would be a completely different story once he was in the technical area.

“Terry was at the draw so I had a chat to him about it [the game] and I’ve caught up with Bimbi the last two weekends because he’s come out to watch our games,” he said. 

“It’s not just two ex-teammates but guys that I still keep in contact with so it’ll be an interesting one.

“Come game time we’re both there to win and being underdogs it’s a big ask but we’ll be putting our best foot forward and doing our best on the night.”