Paul Okon Jr admits Sydney FC's lack of aggression has contributed to their mid-season form slump ahead of a derby showdown with trash-talking defender Anthony Pantazopoulos.
Okon refused to get drawn into a war of words with Pantazopoulos ahead of Saturday's meeting with Western Sydney, who outfought Sydney en route to a 1-0 win earlier in the A-League Men season.
In a video released on the Wanderers' social media platforms this week, Pantazopoulos described Sydney's performance in November's meeting as "weak as piss" after having called the Sky Blues "w*****s" in a clip circulated last year.
Sydney's most recent outing was a 4-0 Australia Day humiliation at the hands of Melbourne Victory, which prompted coach Ufuk Talay to question whether his players were struggling with the weight of the jersey.
The Victory hammering means Sydney, who have been jostling for top spot over the last month, have now won just one of their last five games, a run Okon says can be attributed to their lack of aggression.
"A part of it is I think we've lacked that fighting spirit the past few weeks," Okon said.
"We were showing that during the early stages of the season.
"We need to show more of that and on the weekend it's another opportunity to do it."
The table is so congested that, depending on other results, Sydney could drop out of the top six with a loss to the Wanderers or climb to first place with a win.
The five-time champions have fumbled the chance to go top three times in as many matches.
"It's frustrating we've had a couple of times to go top and haven't taken it," Okon said.
The flames of the rivalry have been well and truly fanned this week by Pantazopoulos, who has embraced his role as the pantomime villain of the Sydney derby.
The Wanderers centre back prodded Sydney's fans as well as their players by claiming he didn't hear the Sky Blues' supporters until after the fulltime whistle.
"We're not really focused on what he has to say, we just focus on ourselves and performing to the best of our abilities," Okon said.
"That's just their way of getting up for this type of game.
"I don't think we need any type of extra motivation as it is, I think we're motivated without those comments.
"We're just looking forward to the weekend and hopefully putting in a great performance for our fans and hopefully we can get the win."
