Melbourne could welcome back injured defensive trio Matthew Kemp, Surat Sukha and Evan Berger as early as next Tuesday’s clash against Wellington.
Melbourne could welcome back injured defensive trio Matthew Kemp, Surat Sukha and Evan Berger as early as next Tuesday’s clash against Wellington.
But coach Ernie Merrick is unlikely to make many changes for this Saturday’s match against Adelaide at Etihad Stadium.
Melbourne is coming off an impressive 6-2 win over Perth last week and, given that performance and that he has no further injury concerns, Merrick will stick with a similar line-up to the one which put the Glory to the sword.
“There won’t be any changes in the squad, Merrick said on Thursday. “It was a terrific performance, there wasn’t a bad player on the park, we scored six, and we could have got a couple more.”
Grant Brebner put a scare through the camp when he left the training track on Thursday after receiving a knock, but Merrick thinks the experienced Scotsman, who has just returned for an ankle injury, should be fine.
However, with three games coming up over the space of six days, Merrick is aware that he will have to utilise his depth and that could mean a recall for Kemp, Sukha and Berger, who have all suffered hamstring injuries in the last month.
Kemp appears the most likely to return as Merrick looks to his experienced players to play a bigger role in the lead-up to the finals.
“Getting closer to the finals, I’m always a believer in experience over youth so if there was any of our boys ready to make a comeback – Kempy, Surat, or Evan Berger – they would be in consideration,” he said.
“We wouldn-t risk them, but given the way the boys are playing at the moment, I can’t see any changes this match.”
“There’s a few of them aiming for Tuesday night against Wellington.”
“Given we-ve got three games in seven days, we’ll have a few boys back, plus there’s another couple of youth players, who have had a bit of taste of it.”
Nathan Elasi and Mate Dugandzic have been included in an extended squad for Saturday’s match, with Melbourne looking to inflict a ninth-straight defeat over the Reds.
But that extraordinary head-to-head record hasn’t affected Merrick’s approach to the match.
“It’s history,” he said. “Whether a team’s at the top or the bottom, Adelaide’s always a tough game.”
“You take confidence from your previous games against them, but it’s a whole new ball game on Saturday night.”
“It’s about us playing our best football and not getting ahead of ourselves.”
