The Sky Blues won six games at the death this season and found a late equaliser to another. More than two thirds of Sydney's 44 goals have been scored after half-time, and almost half of them in the final 15 minutes of games.

However, it's their defensive record at the tail end of games that is the most telling. The Sky Blues are yet to suffer a collapse let alone a capitulation. Central Coast Mariners defender Scott Galloway is the only player to have scored against the Sky Blues after the 75th minute this season while Sydney's goalkeeper Danny Vukovic picked the ball out of his own net on just three occasions during a second-half this campaign.

But if the injury ward is the best measure of fitness and conditioning, then the barren list at Moore Park tells the story. A freak hamstring injury incurred mid-game for Seb Ryall is the only injury Sydney FC have been dealt this season and reducing that toll from previous years has been the main focus for their strength and conditioning coach, Andrew Clark.

"So far we've been largely fortunate to avoid those injuries this year but even with those injuries there's a certain percentage that come with fatigue, poor decision and positioning that puts you at risk where an unpreventable injury can occur," Clark said.

Getting Sydney to be the league leaders in fitness as well was a project that began before pre-season, with an approach that's conciliatory rather than cookie-cutter. Consistent training programs, loads tailored for each player and flexibility with understanding followed a rigorous screening process at the start of the season to analyse the body of every player, whether existing or new.

"We assess how robust they are and what sort of athletes they are. Then they enter their injury history, they enter a screening process, where our medical team,[physio] Elias [Boukarim] James [Lawrence] our doctor are involved in the screening process of our players. They identify the risks and the things the players need to work on in the long term and also correct in the short term."

Accepting no body is identical, and injury histories vary means the club's fitness team managed each player accordingly. Loads were increased throughout the year to ensure the players mentally could cope as they became more robust, and performances improved. According to Clark, they're not close to the finished product yet.

"It didn't stop when we started the A-League, it's a continual process of trying to improve their conditioning as the season goes on with the ultimate goal being the last day of the season," Clark said.

The previously injury-stricken Michael Zullo has played all but one game this season. Bernie Ibini could barely run at the start of the year on his long road back from a potentially career-threatening injury, but has since scored four goals in all competitions. Rhyan Grant is emerging as one of the the fittest players in the competition while their veterans are swimming in a fountain of youth.

Alex Brosque turned 33 at the start of the season but can't remember being as quick. Milos Ninkovic is 32 but says he's never been in better shape. Clark's secret is rather simple.

"The best thing we can do is listen, listen to what they feel helps them best and then as the relationship grows we begin to see ways we can improve a player. For a player like Filip [Holosko], in some areas we may need to back-off a bit and then increase other training he does. Then it's just a case of making small adjustments," he said.