Melbourne City are seeking a replacement for star winger Damien Duff, but coach John van’t Schip is confident his current squad remains capable of claiming a finals berth.
Van’t Schip on Friday confirmed Duff would miss the rest of the A-League season, with the 35-year-old undergoing surgery to repair calf tendon and ankle ligament damage suffered in City’s 0-0 draw against Wellington.
City dropped to seventh with that result and face a testing fortnight with ladder leaders Perth and third-placed Adelaide to visit as they try to get their finals campaign back on track.
With 10 rounds remaining, van’t Schip doubted he would be able to significantly boost his squad with an injury-replacement signing.
“We’re looking, but it’s not easy,” van’t Schip said on Friday.
“(It’s difficult) to get the quality and also are they going to be fit because it would normally be a player who’s been out of contract for a couple of months.
“There are a lot of things that we have to look at and, of course, there’s the availability of a player in that position.
“Maybe we could get a defender or a midfielder but we need a certain player to fill that need.
“But we’re working and looking to see if we can do something.”
City signed former Newcastle central defender Kew Jaliens this week after Duff joined an extensive injury list that also includes Robbie Wielaert (ankle), James Brown (knee), Ben Garuccio (ankle) and Mate Dugandzic (knee).
Brown and Dugandzic returned to training on Friday but are still likely to miss another two weeks.
Van’t Schip said Jaliens was ready to play a role for his new club after leaving the turmoil of Newcastle behind him.
“He can help us out and we can help him out for the time being and then we can see what the future holds,” he said.
Van’t Schip said morale within his group remained high despite the club’s wretched run with injuries this season.
While he admitted the loss of Duff was a big blow, he remained hopeful the Irishman could play an off-field role for the rest of the season.
“It’s especially disappointing for him,” he said.
“But hopefully he’ll be back soon so he can help us out mentally. He can still have a presence (even though) he won’t play.”
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