With three players already out for the season with serious knee injuries and another set to play Wellington Phoenix on Sunday with 10 stitches still in his forehead, Arnold revealed physical presence is becoming the main quality he's looking for in his potential injury replacement signings.

The Sky Blues can sign up to three players to cover for the injured Ali Abbas, Nick Carle and Corey Gameiro and have two foreign player spots available. With plenty of options but limited funds within the A-League salary cap, Arnold will likely use at least one of those places on a player whose primary attribute is winning the physical battles on the field.

"Maybe a couple of players coming in that can add a lot of physicality to our game instead of us just relying on quality," Arnold said. "No closer, getting phone calls and emails all the time. There are plenty of names being put forward but we only have a certain amount of money to spend on injury players and they're not cheap. I said, I want to bring quality to the club, if not I'd rather play Australian kids."

Arnold's scouting criteria follows the 3-3 draw with Melbourne Victory in which Terry Antonis suffered a split forehead as a result of a flying elbow from Mark Milligan. The Victory captain did not receive a card for the action but was later slapped with a three-game ban. When asked if the suspension handed down from the match review panel was sufficient, Arnold said: "No comment."

Sydney FC are enduring a horrid run of injuries,  with the news that central defenders Sasa Ognenovski and Matt Jurman are unlikely to play again before the A-League break in January. The club still sits in fourth ahead of their match against the in-form Wellington Phoenix at Allianz Stadium on Sunday but Arnold says his side needs to learn how to cope with the increasing physicality of the competition, not just the ability.

"I don't think I've had one ACL [anterior cruciate ligament injury] in 15 years of coaching let alone three ACLs in four weeks. I said after the game the other night that we got beat up against Melbourne Victory, physically. We have to probably toughen up ourselves and fight the fight. Technically, we have some fantastic players with football quality but with the way the A-League is going at the moment I think we have to muscle up more and be prepared to fight the fight," Arnold said.

He was coy on the policing of A-League games and when asked if the referees need to play a greater role in ensuring player welfare, he said: "No comment."

When asked whether he believes playing standards are suffering as a result of the physical standard of the league, Arnold again said: "No comment."