Muscat: Title push needs more than Rogic

Rogic, 21, has joined Victory on loan from Celtic until the end of the season, and is set to fill the void left by Mitch Nichols' departure to Cerezo Osaka.

But Muscat stopped short of declaring the former Central Coast Mariners prodigy the missing ingredient in the club's push for the championship.

"Without doubt he's a very talented footballer and he certainly adds something to the squad," he said.

"We've got to be mindful as well that he hasn't played too much football. We've got to respect his body.

"I've no doubt he can contribute going forward but he's certainly not going to be able to do it on his own. It's going to have to be a collective effort."

Muscat said Rogic had fitted in quickly with the rest of the squad, and flagged his possible introduction off the bench against Sydney FC on Sunday.

"Every time I've asked him, 'how'd you sleep?' 'Yeah, well.' 'How are you feeling?' 'Yeah, very good.'"

"So I've worked out he's a real glass half full sort of person. I like that in individuals. He's certainly rubbed off on individuals during the short period of time he's been here as well.

"We'll have to monitor him and it would be irresponsible to just assume you can throw him in and ask him to play for 90 minutes.

"We'll make an informed decision as to whether he starts or he comes off the bench."

Muscat expects Sydney coach Frank Farina to orchestrate a competitive performance this weekend, despite the Sky Blues being without a victory in their last five matches.

"Frank will rally them," he said.

"It's going to be a very difficult game for us. From our perspective, it's important we put in a good performance. I always maintain if we put in a good performance the result looks after itself."