Star striker Archie Thompson says he can’t wait to join forces with Ney Fabiano in attack against Queensland Roar on Saturday night.
Star striker Archie Thompson says he can’t wait to join forces with Ney Fabiano in attack against Queensland Roar on Saturday night.
Circumstances have conspired against the pair stepping foot on the same pitch together since Round 4.
Thompson missed the first two games through injury, before they combined with fellow striker Danny Allsopp in a 5-0 thrashing of Newcastle in Round 3.
Fabiano was then shown a red card early in the following match and subsequently suspended for six matches, while Thompson has also missed the past two matches through suspension.
But the thought of teaming up with the Brazilian for what will be a crucial clash against the fourth-placed Roar at Suncorp Stadium has left Thompson salivating.
“The first couple of games we saw glimpses of what he can do,” Thompson said of Fabiano.
“Just training with him – because that’s all we can do at the moment – just seeing how much he wins the ball in the air, he holds the ball up, he’s just a different type of player than me and Danny and brings something exciting to the team.”
Victory assistant coach Aaron Healey said a decision on whether to play Thompson, Fabiano and Allsopp together in attack was still yet to be made but he hinted that seeing the star trio in action together was a distinct possibility.
“I think we’ll keep our cards close to our chest for the time being. There’s a highly likely chance that will occur but we’ll have to wait and see,” he said.
Healey said Fabiano was fit and raring to go against the Roar despite not playing for six weeks.
“Fab’s been doing some fantastic work training with Adam Basil, our strength coach. He’s looking sharp. He’s been scoring goals for fun in training and he’s always got a smile on his face and he’s a fantastic character to have around the club. Hopefully he’ll get a couple for us on Saturday night,” he said.
The loss of winger Evan Berger – who has been in career-best form this season – to a hamstring injury was a real blow to the side, Healey said, but added that it gave other players the opportunity to slot in and make an impact.
“It’s a bit of a significant blow for him but it gives other guys a chance,” Healey said. “We might give Kempy (Matthew Kemp) a chance and obviously there’s another position for either Wardy (Nick Ward), Leigh Broxham or Tommy Pondeljak to take up. We’ll make that call when we get there.”
Thompson insisted he had recovered from a virus this week and would be right to go for the full 90 minutes on Saturday night.
“Obviously my lungs are going to be working overtime but I’m feeling good and looking forward to being back on the pitch,” he said.
Thompson said he was hopeful the Victory could continue Queensland’s miserable record at home this season (just one draw and three losses) and asked all Melbourne supporters to turn out and watch the side try and consolidate top spot on the Hyundai A-League table.
“It’s going to be a tough match and I know there’ll be good support from our supporters because they love to travel and love to support our team. So hopefully we can do something special up there,” he said.
