The value of Tony Popovic's controversial squad rotation policy may be there to see as his Western Sydney Wanderers open their maiden Asian Champions League campaign against 2012 champions Ulsan Hyundai on Wednesday.
Popovic has puzzled some with constant changes to his lineup through the A-League season, but the Wanderers are riding comfortably in second place and now have a well-tried arsenal of players to call on in the hectic weeks of dual competition duty ahead.
A number of regular starters, including marquee man Shinji Ono (illness) and Jerome Polenz (suspension), remained back in Sydney as the Wanderers claimed a 2-0 away win over Perth Glory on Saturday night, extending their unbeaten streak to four matches.
Popovic praised the efforts of goalkeeper Jarrad Tyson who made his debut for the club in place of the injured Ante Covic (groin) while he was also quick to turn his attention to Wednesday's home ACL clash with the South Korean club.
"We will get back and assess all the players..and see if the players that stayed home have recovered from illnesses and little light knocks," he said.
"We've got to manage the squad well, we've got to use every player and we're comfortable doing that.
"You saw that tonight with our goalkeeper. He hasn't played at all and to keep training every day waiting for that opportunity, it's a challenge for him personally, and he showed today why he's a true professional and he had a great game."
Popovic is unsure what to expect from the Wanderers first ACL match but is confident his squad can continue to perform well in both competitions.
"We only have 23 players in the squad and we've got an ACL campaign and we want to finish the season off as well as we can," he said.
"We want to do well on both fronts. We want to do our club proud in the ACL and the A-League proud so we'll give it our very best.
"It's a new experience (playing ACL) - I don't know what to really expect.
"What I do expect and I know will come is a passionate crowd at Parramatta Stadium and a group of players that will give it everything they have got, that I'm sure of.
