It was one of the club's darkest nights but Sydney FC coach Frank Farina is confident there are no demons for his side ahead of the rematch with Central Coast.
It was one of the darkest nights in the club's history but Sydney FC coach Frank Farina is confident there are no mental demons for his side ahead of Thursday night's rematch with the Central Coast.
The Sky Blues were on the end of an embarrassing 7-2 demolition at the hands of the Mariners in round five as Graham Arnold's men ran riot at Bluetongue Stadium.
The mauling started a miserable couple of months for Sydney in which coach Ian Crook resigned as they remain stranded on the bottom of the A-League ladder with just one win in the past seven games.
It would be understandable for the Sky Blues squad to approach this match with some trepidation but Farina is adamant the horror result has been forgotten.
"Those things can happen in games but I don't think there are any mental scars," Farina said.
"That's something that happened but it's in the past now. It will happen to teams this year and next year as well.
"We saw it happen to Adelaide last week as well against Western Sydney and they (Reds) were second on the table.
"Everyone's attitude has to be the right one, which is to get down, work hard and battle.
"We need to find out the ones who are going to be ready for it. At moment the ones who we're putting on the park are the ones who are ready physically but hopefully mentally as well."
Marquee man Alessandro Del Piero missed the drubbing earlier this season but said the players have to use the hurt and humiliation from that game to inspire them this time around.
"Sometimes it happens where everything is wrong for you and everything is good for opposition," the Italian superstar said.
"It can happen but we have to use that. Now we have the chance to write a new story.
"Now is a tough moment for us and we go into the next three games against the top three teams in the league.
"We need to improve a lot...but if we are looking for a good position at the end of the season we have to do a great job in these three matches."
While the Sky Blues have battled injuries for most of the season, the Mariners have had a fairly settled line-up and are only missing right-back Pedj Bojic for this one through suspension.
Defender Pascal Bosschaart (calf) is again unavailable for Sydney while midfielder Jason Culina is only a 50-50 chance to feature which only makes the home side's task that much harder.
Asked how his struggling side could stop the Mariners, Farina joked: "Maybe chop a couple of their legs off.
"Look, they're travelling well, are extremely organised and very fit. It's going to be tough for us.
"Even though we're at home they are top of the league and deservedly so.
"We've got to try and make sure we stick to what we want to do and anything can happen."