Melbourne Victory’s remarks about Allianz Stadium’s poor pitch could be a sign they’re already doling out excuses for an A-League grand-final loss, former Sydney FC captain Mark Rudan suggests.

The substandard surface has stolen most of the headlines ahead of Sunday’s showpiece.

Such is the concern about the state of the pitch, Football Federation Australia made an unsuccessful last-ditch attempt to get Saturday night’s Super Rugby game moved.

It’s not been lost on Victory coach Kevin Muscat, who said it was “a shame” the pitch would be in such a poor state but declared they’d just have to beat premiers Sydney on whatever surface was available.

That perspective has been repeated by some of Muscat’s players in recent days, in what Sydney United head coach and Fox Sports pundit Rudan believes might be a sign they’re on the mental back foot.

“There’s been a lot of talk about the pitch from Melbourne Victory players,” Rudan said at Sydney’s grand final luncheon.

“I look at that in a different way, it’s almost as though players are giving out excuses already.

“We’re still days away from the grand final, I’m not sure if Musky is going to put a lid on those comments, but Musky himself has come out and spoken about the pitch.

“It’s one thing I’ve never heard from Sydney FC, they’ve never really gone out and complained about the pitch and they’ve had to play on that pitch themselves.

“That’s an interesting one from a psychological perspective.”

Sky Blues coach Graham Arnold has always publicly insisted the poor home deck actually suits his record-breaking side’s superior technical ability, and felt there could be a tendency to “read too much into it”.

“I look at Suncorp and other a lot of other pitches, and it’s the way it is,” Arnold said. “We’ve got players technically good enough to deal with whatever and legs that can deal with whatever.

“All I know is that when you walk down the ramp at Allianz it’s the best stadium in Australia to play football on.

“I know I’ve got 22 players who love playing there. This year we’ve had 14 games there, won 11 and only conceded three goals. That’s how much belief the boys will take into the game.”