Ante Juric has hailed Sydney FC's maturity and resilience as they seek to become the first side in history to win a third-straight A-League Women premiership.
Reports on Friday suggested that Juric's bid for a premiership three-peat had been knocked off course after Canberra United successfully overturned a points deduction for exceeding the amount of substitutes used.
Canberra confirmed the news on Friday and Sydney are awaiting the outcome of Football Australia's decision before exploring the next course of action.
Western United now look set to finish top of the table at Sydney's expense.
While that saga rumbles on, Juric is keen to keep his side on task for the remainder of this season, one which the former Socceroo describes as the toughest of his tenure.
"It's definitely been the hardest league and that's why I'm so proud to be up there," Juric told AAP.
"We've had a lot of injuries which have hurt us and we've got a lot of young girls who are leading the way.
"The worst team in the league can lift and play like Real Madrid against you, but that shows our positive mindset to keep doing what we are doing.
"It'll only help us next year and we have still picked up points."
The Sky Blues face an Adelaide United side on Saturday, who have struggled to recapture last year's form which earned them a drought-breaking finals berth.
The Reds sit eighth and are out of finals contention but did enjoy a win over Sydney in the opening round of the season.
"You can see they are playing with freedom now because they've got nothing to lose," Juric said.
"They're a dangerous prospect for us and they were in the semi-finals last year so they aren't a bad team.
"They'll want to ruin any chance we have - that's what I'd be saying (if I was Adelaide coach)."
