Western Sydney Wanderers defender Matthew Spiranovic says that the club's preseason tour to Dubai will help them cope with the oppressive conditions expected in Riyadh for the second leg of the AFC Champions League final on Saturday.
Western Sydney hold a one goal lead over Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal after winning the first-leg 1-0 at Parramatta Stadium on Oct. 25.
"We know what to expect both on and off the park," Spiranovic said in quotes reported by World Sport Group. "It is a lot of travelling and it is going to be testing conditions over there. But we had a good preparation with a tough nine days in preseason in Dubai. So we know what we are getting ourselves into."
Spiranovic, 26, made a cameo appearance for Wanderers in the first leg. This marked a first competitive outing for the Australia defender since June's World Cup, although all will be forgotten should the A-League outfit become the first Australian club to land the continental title.
Centre-back Spiranovic was ever-present for Australia in Brazil having enjoyed a stand-out debut season with Wanderers. He joined Tony Popovic's side in October 2013 following spells in Germany, Japan and Qatar.
Spiranovic underwent ankle surgery in July shortly after returning from Brazil and he had been sidelined until making his return in the first leg to ensure Wanderers kept a clean sheet ahead of the decisive second leg at King Fahd Stadium.
"It was fantastic to be back playing. It has been a tough, long road. But to make my comeback in a Champions League final with that crowd was a great feeling," said Spiranovic, who missed the knockout stage successes over China's Guangzhou Evergrande and Korea Republic's FC Seoul.
"It is still early days in my comeback; it was just good to get a few minutes in the legs. I feel I am getting stronger and fitter every day and we are all looking forward to the second leg in Saudi Arabia."
With Spiranovic watching from the bench for the majority of the game, Wanderers survived everything a slick Al Hilal side had to throw at them as substitute Tomi Juric, himself making a return from an injury lay-off, slid home Antony Golec's cross four minutes after the hour mark. Spiranovic was then introduced with a quarter of an hour remaining to help Wanderers hold on to their crucial advantage.
"We showed immense character and fought very hard. We had to dig deep as they are a quality side with good players and we are just happy with the 1-0 win," added Spiranovic. "We didn't do ourselves any favours in the first half. But the second half was different and we controlled the game a bit better with a little bit more possession. We got ourselves in the game. We started to ask them some questions and Tomi came on and scored a great goal for us."
The Wanderers' trip to Riyadh represents a first foray to West Asia for an Australian side in the AFC Champions League. It is expected to be a hostile atmosphere at the King Fahd Stadium with a sell-out crowd of close to 70,000 predicted as Al Hilal seek a sixth continental title.
"An away goal would be massive as that would mean they would need to get three," Spiranovic added. "But we are just going to play our game and when we go there it is 0-0 as we want to lift the trophy at the end of the 90 minutes.
"I am sure it is going to be a huge atmosphere as their supporters will come out in big numbers. But on the way to this final we have overcome similar hurdles and tough opposition in very tough footballing environments."