Western Sydney coach Marko Rudan insists there won't be time for pleasantries in his first Sydney derby clash with new Sky Blues boss Ufuk Talay.
Rudan and Talay are old Sydney FC teammates and the friends and have previously faced off on the touchline when the latter was Wellington Phoenix coach.
But they meet as crosstown rivals for the first time in Saturday night's A-League Men clash at Allianz Stadium.
Wanderers boss Rudan had plenty of fiery clashes with Talay's predecessor Steve Corica and indicated he won't hold back.
"He (Talay) wants to beat me, I want to beat him," Rudan said on Thursday.
"He's representing his football club, I'm doing the same with mine."
For Talay, taking it up to the table-topping Wanderers is the perfect way to continue a blistering start to his tenure.
Talay took the reins at Sydney FC after the club sacked Corica in early November following a winless start to the season.
He had an immediate impact, leading the Sky Blues to a 5-1 thrashing of Adelaide United at Cooper's Stadium before the international break.
"It's a new era, a new way of playing for our players as well," Talay said.
"I think it's (the derby) a great way to restart the season.
"We've come off a great win against Adelaide and there was a good two weeks to build (to the derby)."
As much as the excitement builds, Talay was not over-hyping the derby angle.
"It's another game for us," Talay said.
"A fantastic opportunity to play against a quality side...looking forward to the challenge.
"This is my first game at home in front of our members and fans."
Sydney forward Robbie Mak was away last week on representative duties with Slovakia and Talay was yet to reveal if he will start on Saturday.
"Robbie arrived yesterday and he was involved with training this morning with the group," Talay said.
"We've got another day before the game...we'll make a decision on game day on who will start the game."
Socceroo Brandon Borrello returned to training on Thursday with Rudan confirming the striker will feature against Sydney.
"Brandon's buzzing, he's ready to rock and roll," Rudan said.
"Whether he starts or not I'll make the decision. We've got to look after him."
