Western Sydney forward Brandon Borrello insists he was not referring to Sydney FC as "bang average", although he has no regrets over using the term to describe last month's fiery A-League Men derby.
Borrello went viral after the match when he was critical of the Sky Blues' playing style and branded them "scared" of the Wanderers.
Sydney claimed a 1-0 win last month after scoring early through Max Burgess and then defending in numbers.
But Borrello's use of the term "bang average" has been leapt upon by the Sky Blues, who this week posted a video of spectacular winning derby goals on their website.
The 27-year-old, who was recalled by the Socceroos on Tuesday for this month's friendlies with Ecuador, believes his reaction to the gutsy loss has been taken out of context.
"Hand on my heart, I didn't say they were 'bang average' or anything like that," he told AAP.
"I remember saying 'bang average', I was just more frustrated at my performance.
"I got slaughtered for showing a bit of emotion after the game.
"You say your honest piece and it is what it is, but I don't regret it at all. It was great.
"The media loved it but it's not what I'm here for, I'm here to play football."
Saturday's derby at Allianz Stadium looms as critical to both sides' hopes of making the ALM finals.
Sydney sit precariously in sixth spot while the fourth-placed Wanderers are aiming to bounce back from last Friday's 1-0 defeat at Perth and strengthen their charge towards ending a six-year finals drought.
"Hopefully we can keep going," Borrello said.
"It's one game at a time at the moment and we need to be challenging for that top spot.
"We believe we'll be up there. We had a setback in Perth but the quicker you can pick yourself up and go again the better things will be."
