''Look, I'm not going to lie and say he was jumping through hoops and saying thank you ever so much, but he was what he is, which is a great professional,'' Crook told The Age. ''He took it on the chin and he just said, 'I'll now work harder to get back in the side'. It's been a tough week or so for him but he's handled it with great character.''

Whether an old dog can be taught new tricks is the question for McFlynn as Crook has challenged the Ulsterman to change his style to suit Sydney's new passing and possession-based game.

''We've given Terry one thing in particular to work on and I told him that to work himself back into the first team, it's about can you get yourself facing forward and playing forward,'' he said. ''That's where we need his passes to be heading. If he can do that, it will give him every chance of pushing his way back into the team.''

Making it tougher for McFlynn is that Crook was impressed with the Reid-Abbas combination and seems unlikely to change it after the Sky Blues posted their first win of the season over the Wanderers.

''I think Ali is a really adaptable footballer. He's got great feet, he's got engines to die for and he's just got a real desire to succeed,'' Crook said. ''We've used him on the left in pre-season and obviously with a couple of injuries we've had we've pulled him back inside and I thought he did an excellent job on the weekend.