'It's on me': Rudan shoulders 4-1 Wanderers derby loss

In his first match back since serving a two-game ban for his explosive comments on referees, the Wanderers were monstered by a rampant Sky Blues unit from the first whistle at CommBank Stadium on Saturday.

Down two goals in the opening seven minutes of the derby, the men in red and black could not fight their way back into the game.

"I'll take full responsibility for tonight," Rudan said after the match.

"It's my team - the way I prepared them, the team that I put out there, how we wanted to play and win tonight. It's on me.

"We spoke about it all week. We have to match the intensity and the fight, making sure that we're mentally prepared for it.

"We didn't show up and we lost the game in the first two minutes of both halves."

Stand-in Sydney captain Rhyan Grant lit up the stadium in the third minute of their wet-weather skirmish with an electric header followed by a Fabio Gomes goal from the penalty spot.

Sydney's Slovakian import Robert Mak then put the game to bed in the 50th minute by making the most of a poor pass to Wanderers winger Lachlan Brook before Gomes notched his brace nine minutes later.

Though Rudan admits his role in the defeat, he still expressed disappointment over the lack of character his team displayed on the field.

"Every coach will tell you this, I can't coach that," Rudan said.

"I can't coach what's inside of somebody, how big their heart is, how much they want to win a ball, how much they want to get back, how much they want to make a forward run.

"There was not much that I could say to them.

"Sometimes you have to harness the energy and the anxiety throughout the week.

"They're on socials, they read things, they hear things - they knew there was going to be a good atmosphere tonight, so that's disappointing.

"They know themselves the effort that was lacking tonight. I don't have to tell them anything."

Australian Associated Press