Melbourne Victory will be without their senior defensive midfielder Grant Brebner for at least the next fortnight because of a calf strain.
Melbourne Victory will be without their senior defensive midfielder Grant Brebner for at least the next fortnight because of a calf strain.
The 33-year-old missed the club’s breakthrough win against Wellington Phoenix last Sunday and will be sidelined for Saturday night’s clash with titleholders Brisbane Roar at Etihad Stadium.
Coach Mehmet Durakovic said he had faith in Leigh Broxham to fill-in for Brebner who was a no-show at training at Gosch’s Paddock on Thursday morning
“It’s a very big blow for us,” Durakovic said after training.
“But we’ve got guys coming in and it’s their opportunity to take it.”
“‘Broxy’ did a magnificent job in Wellington.”
Durakovic said a palpable change came over his side once Archie Thompson fired the ball into the back of the net late in the first half of the 2-1 win over the Phoenix.
It was as if the Victory’s previous 312 minutes of scoreless frustration this season had been flushed away.
“Archie scored a fantastic goal in the first half and … in the second half we just really wanted to go at them,” Durakovic said.
“Once you put the ball into the back of the net it lets everybody start to play football with a bit of fluency.”
“We had a game plan in Wellington in the first half and we really stuck to it.”
Durakovic declined to say whether he would tinker with the set-up for the Brisbane clash.
He agreed Melbourne’s best so far this season hasn’t been anywhere near what Brisbane’s managed to achieve, but the side, he said, was improving with each outing.
Asked whether veteran striker Danny Allsopp was a chance to start on Saturday night, Durakovic said: “We’ll see how we go at training tomorrow and we’ll make up our minds tomorrow.”
“Danny’s done really well when he came on against Wellington.”
“We’ve got a big squad.”