It’s an A-League finals race six-pointer and Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat could be missing six first-team regulars against Central Coast.
The Victory welcome the reigning A-League champions to AAMI Park to start a testing stretch of five matches in 15 days without their captain and star signing.
Mark Milligan and Tom Rogic will not arrive back from Socceroos duty in time for the match, while Nick Ansell’s suspension and Adrian Leijer’s facial injuries have ruled them both out.
They could be joined on the sidelines by Kosta Barbarouses, who will only arrive back in Australia on Friday morning after representing New Zealand in Japan on Wednesday night, and left-back Adama Traore, who took a knock to the knee and must test his fitness in training.
Despite the injury concerns, Muscat preferred to see the crisis as an opportunity.
“There’s a number of boys missing tomorrow night but … last time I looked, we’ve got more than 11 boys out there to choose from so it’s an opportunity for someone else,” he said.
Both the Victory and Mariners are locked on 30 points on the A-League table, with Central Coast edging fourth place with the slightest of goal difference edges.
While Muscat’s defensive woes and struggle to find consistency this term have been well documented, he was keen to keep things in perspective.
“We’ve got to show a greater desire not to concede goals. It’s got to hurt a lot more when we concede goals.
“But we win tomorrow night, we’re a point off second place, so it’s certainly not doom and gloom.”
With the A-League ladder logjam, the losing team could find themselves within one point of falling out of the top six.
Mariners boss Phil Moss, who counted five ex-Mariners among Ange Postecoglou’s Socceroos side who were defeated 4-3 by Ecuador on Thursday morning, said Muscat and he would put their friendship on hold for the match.
“We’re doing our Pro Diploma together so we’re good mates and swap notes every week – except for this week,” he said.
He emphasised with Muscat’s search for consistency.
“You could say the same about us. A change of coach mid-season and consistency is one of the things that is hard to come by,” he said.
The Mariners, who beat Sydney FC 2-1 last week, have their own defensive problems, with Eddy Bosnar ruled out and Josh Rose potentially needing to wear protective headwear after a head clash last week.
Storm Roux, who joined Barbarouses on All Whites duty in Japan, will be assessed on Friday morning.
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