Sydney: Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic says he has not been contacted about the vacant manager’s job at former club Crystal Palace and is focused on getting his A-League side into the Asian Champions League semi-finals.

Popovic, a former captain and assistant coach at Palace, has been linked by media reports to the vacancy at Selhurst Park left by the abrupt departure of Tony Pulis just before the start of the Premier League season.

“There’s not been any conversations with regard to that with anyone,” he told reporters at Parramatta Stadium ahead of the quarter-final first leg against Asian champions Guangzhou Evergrande.

“It’s not for us to speak about speculation, if something was happening we’d speak about it but it’s just speculation.

“I’m very fond of that club, I have great memories, great history there. I have many friends there and I wish them all the best whoever they choose as manager.” On Wednesday, Popovic goes head-to-head with one of the great managers of modern football, Italy’s World Cup winning coach from 2006, Marcello Lippi.

The odds, though, are stacked against the 41-year-old former Socceroos defender coming out on top after his team do battle over two legs with the Chinese champions.

There is the huge gulf in spending between the two clubs, the fact that Guangzhou are in mid-season while Wanderers are in the closed season and also that Popovic has lost 10 players since the end of the last campaign and is rebuilding his squad.

Surprise package

However, the extraordinary story of the Wanderers, a club built from scratch in 2012 who have reached the A-League final in their first two seasons, has been all about overcoming huge odds and Popovic would not be surprised if they did it again.

Their passage to the last eight — only the second Australian side to achieve the feat after Adelaide United — has already included wins over South Korea’s 2012 Asian champions Ulsan Hyundai and Japan’s J. League champions Sanfrecce Honda.

“When we played Sanfrecce at home here, I said we would not be surprised if we went through and on the day we deserved to go through and the players were outstanding,” he said.

“I again would not be surprised if we went through in these two games. That’s how I feel, that’s the belief I have in the players.

“They know I believe in them. Every day when I see them work, I see how focused they are to be the best prepared they can be for this challenge.

“We’re looking at how do we get through to a semi-final, we’re not looking at how do we put up a good fight, how do we make the A-League proud. No, our focus is on what we have to get through.”