While Bolton is still unsure of the exact cause of the problem, he says he notices it more when he's not in the heat of battle. But the damage done during matches is yet to be determined, and Bolton described the bus ride home from the 3-2 win against Central Coast on Saturday night as "hell".

He says would have pulled out of the round one clash but for the intervention of coach John Kosmina, who backed his keeper to get himself right in the days before the game.

"On the Wednesday before the match, I aggravated it badly and if I was forced to make a call that day, which I thought I had to do, I would have pulled out," the 33-year-old said.

"I learned a lesson last year when I injured my hip and played when I shouldn't have played and we lost 4-2 against Perth. I learned a lot from that. But I talked to Kossie and he was willing to back me, which was important because the decision had been made for me. I just concentrated on getting my neck as good as it could be for the game, and it ended up not being a worry."

Bolton's impressive form in the opening two matches has earned him plenty of plaudits, and he'll be keen to turn the tables on Perth when they face each other at the Sydney Football Stadium on Sunday. The former Socceroos keeper says that while he can't get rid of the problem for now, he's going to tough it out and hope it doesn't linger.

"When I first did it, it was a shooting pain just in my neck area, and it was stiff. I couldn't turn it to the right, but now it's more of an ache, and I still don't have that range. It's still very tight," he said. "It's a bit concerning [that] it hasn't gone away by now, that's for sure, but I think I can manage it, even if it's an ongoing issue. So I'm not worried that I'll miss any games. Put it this way, I'm willing to put up with the pain for however long it takes."