Melbourne Victory strike duo Archie Thompson and Robbie Kruse are expected to back up from their A-League semi-final win over Sydney for their Asian Champions League game on Tuesday night.

The pair, out injured for five and three weeks respectively, returned against Sydney on Sunday to steer Melbourne into the A-League grand final with a 4-3 aggregate win.

Thompson scored in the 113th minute as the match went into overtime, while Kruse had scored a stunning opener.
Victory will host Korean side Seongnam Ilhwa, who won their opening round ACL clash with Japanese powerhouse Kawasaki Frontale, at Etihad Stadium.

The presence of Thompson and Kruse is a boon for Victory, with coach Ernie Merrick admitting his side could struggle with the short recovery time between games.

“They are a good bet to start,” Merrick said.

“Archie said he felt terrific in extra time and given that they’ve both only played an hour each, two days later I think they’ll be a good chance of getting game time.”

He said he may reshuffle his line-up due to fatigue, particularly in the midfield, however there was only one injury concern with Tom Pondeljak suffering a hamstring problem.

Victory skipper Kevin Muscat said the match schedule was “ridiculous”.

“We’re taking this competition seriously and we want, and expect, to qualify (for the final 16) but the reality is to be anywhere near full strength and 100 per cent in terms of the way we play, it’s a massive ask,” he said.

“Hopefully we’ll have enough bodies near 100 per cent to be able to compete and compete well.”

Merrick said his players would only have their first look at video footage of Korea’s most successful club on Monday afternoon.

“We’ll look at their first game against Kawasaki Frontale but we don’t have a lot of preparation time.

“We didn’t want to touch the ACL game prior to the A-League match so we’ve only got one day to prepare but that will be enough.”
Former Adelaide United defender Sasa Ognenovski has played with Ilhwa since 2008 and said his side had high expectations.

“We’re confident in the way we play … we beat Kawasaki at home in the first game.

“We’ve been tagged as the favourites in the group and we’ve done enough homework on Melbourne and we’re coming here to get the three points.”
He said the Korean team was dangerous up front, with key players including former Colombian international Mauricio Molina and towering Montenegrin Dzenan Radoncic.

Coach Shin Tae-Kong said he was impressed by the standard of the A-League semi-final, and his side planned to keep a close eye on Thompson.

“He’s a very sharp player,” he said through a translator.

“We think Victory player is very strong player so we have to be careful on that.”
Shin said his side was also fatigued after travelling 17 hours to Melbourne but would have an advantage.

“Generally three days between games is not much difference but two days is very difficult for the team.”

© AAP 2012

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