Two decades after he left Sydney in search of a professional football career, Cahill finally gets to play a senior club game in the city of his birth — even if he will be in the visiting team’s dressing room, and knows “I might get a frosty reception from some of the Wanderers fans”.

Cahill and Bruno Fornaroli lead Melbourne City’s expensively forged attack on Friday night at Spotless Stadium, aiming to continue Western Sydney’s faltering start to the A-League season and close the gap between City and the “other” Sydney team at the top.

Cahill is far too consummate a pro to be distracted by anything, but even he admits it will be “weird” playing a club game in Sydney 19 years and six months since he last turned out for Sydney United in the state league, 30km from Olympic Park out at Edensor Park.

As with his trip to Brisbane Roar a fortnight ago, though, you can better your bottom dollar that the “frostiness” will melt in seconds once the final whistle goes, and the queues of autograph-seeking kids form.

“I always said I wanted to play in front of the Wanderers fans — I’ve watched a few games in the stands in the past few seasons and this is all part of what I signed up for,” Cahill said.

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“To come back to Sydney after 19 years will be … interesting. I’ve only played there for the Socceroos in all that time, and it will be a different feeling coming for a club game.

“I guess there might be that bit of frostiness, but I was a big supporter of Western Sydney from the beginning, and they’ve absolutely set the bar for Australian football because of what they’ve achieved.

“I’ve been signing autographs after each game, and when you see so many kids like after the Brisbane game the other week, it’s a sign of how big the game has grown.”

It’s interesting to watch Cahill be absolutely determined to wring every last drop out of his career, aware the clock is ticking.

“It was nice to spend time at my old club in Marrickville a few months ago (on a visit with the Socceroos) and celebrate that, but you know I’m celebrating what we’re doing now more than anything.

“So far I feel like we’re ticking boxes on and off the field, and not just for my team. Hopefully all the clubs get more support, more fans get introduced and the Melbourne City brand gets more exposure. At the moment it feels like football is winning.

“I’m enjoying my football, and enjoying putting in the physical work necessary. That’s why it made sense for me not to travel with the Socceroos (to Bangkok this week), to give my body a chance to rest.”

No doubt there’ll be a handshake and a quick word with the opposition coach on Friday night too — for the third time in six weeks Cahill comes up against a former Socceroos teammate now in the coach’s caper, in this case Tony Popovic.

“It still feels a bit odd, seeing them in a different light and watching them on the sidelines,” Cahill said. “You see their different tactics, the way they approach games.

“Musky (Kevin Muscat) has a lot of control and a huge presence during games, just like he did as a player. Johnny Aloisi is doing more than OK at Brisbane.

“Popa to me has taken things to a whole new level. His player cycles, what he has achieved — his style has set the standard.”

Nor is Cahill reading much, if anything, into Western Sydney’s meagre points tally after six rounds.

“I’ve watched pretty much every A-League game and I wouldn’t be worried about how they’re playing,” he said. “In most of their games they’ve been by far the best footballing team, even losing 3-0 to Victory last week.

“It doesn’t mean the best team always wins games but they don’t need to focus too much on how they’re playing because it’s just fine.

“They just need to finish off their good work — not unlike us against Brisbane a couple of weeks back. It’s just the final ball, the conversion into a goal.”

Originally published as After 20 years, Cahill to make Sydney debut