Melbourne Victory have given up on clearing suspended striker Nik Mrdja to play in Sunday’s second leg of the A-League major semi-final against Sydney FC, despite an upcoming appeal.

But they are holding out hope their depleted attack could be boosted by the return of Archie Thompson or Robbie Kruse from injury for the match which will decide who hosts the grand final.

The pair conducted running and kicking drills separately from the club’s training session on Tuesday, with Thompson working his way back from a foot fracture and Kruse from an ankle injury.

But they are still rated only outside chances to return on Sunday.

“The good news is they are running, the bad news is it is just early days and they have not returned to full training,” Victory football manager Gary Cole said.

“We are certainly not going to rule them out of contention for the weekend, but to say that they are definitely in contention, at this stage, is wishful thinking.”

Mrdja’s two-match ban, for elbowing Shannon Cole in the semi-final first leg, will be appealed in Sydney on Wednesday, but Victory’s aim is only to cut the penalty by one game.

“If we are successful tomorrow Nik will definitely miss the Sydney game anyway, so it is a little bit irrelevant for the game this weekend,” Cole said.

“It just makes the need to find a replacement striker much more important.”

Despite the likelihood that Melbourne’s three main frontmen will be absent at Sydney Football Stadium, defender Rodrigo Vargas said they still had the depth to head north with confidence.

“If one of them comes up it would be great, if no one comes up we’re very confident of the squad we have,” Vargas said.

“We got the result against Sydney at home and we’ll be hoping to do the same away.”

He said their cause would be helped by their 2-1 first leg win, meaning Sydney must score, as a draw will put Victory through to a home decider.

“The longer we can go without conceding the better for us,” Vargas said.

“If they start to get nervous and throw men forward it will open the game up for us.”

The Victory also play an Asian Champions League match against Seongnam in Melbourne next Tuesday and Cole said Thompson and Kruse had a greater chance of being fit for that clash.

© AAP 2012

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