Lion City Sailors Bailey Wright out to keep Sydney FC at bay in Asian Champions League Two semis

SINGAPORE – Less than a month ago, Lion City Sailors defender Bailey Wright’s phone was buzzing with excitement at the reunion with former Socceroo mates, such as Rhyan Grant, Andrew Redmayne and Joel King, after Sydney FC were confirmed as their Asian Champions League Two semi-final opponents.

But things have since gone a bit quiet ahead of the April 9 first leg at the Jalan Besar Stadium and the return leg on April 16, with a historic place in the final at stake.

With a hearty laugh, Wright told The Straits Times at the Lion City Sailors Training Centre on April 8 about the initial thrill: “That’s typical because obviously a few of us have shared some incredible memories together with the national team.

“Competing against each other at club level is also pretty special, so there were messages here and there. But really, we all want to disappoint each other. We are all professionals and it’s the nature of the game.”

In response, Sydney skipper Grant quipped: “Bailey’s a really good guy and I’m glad to see he’s doing really well here. It would be great to come up against him but hopefully, it’s not too enjoyable for him as we’ll make things as hard as possible for him.”

Interestingly, Wright, who has 29 caps, has never played in the A-League as he began his professional career in England with Preston North End 15 years ago. And now, the Melbourne-born centre-back is fully focused on winning trophies with the Sailors and putting them on the Asian footballing map.

“There’s a real opportunity for us to do that. First, we have got two big games ahead of us against a really good team whom we highly respect, but we are a really good team too, and we know we are