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Melbourne Victory coach Ernie Merrick has challenged linesmen to get it right in his side’s A-League major semi-final, alleging they have made a litany of mistakes in matches involving the Victory this season.
The Victory say they have uncovered 13 separate instances of incorrect offside decisions made by linesmen this season – mostly involving their star strikers Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp.
Merrick admitted one of his major concerns was the linesmen during his side’s finals series, which starts with the major semi-final first leg against Adelaide United in Adelaide on Saturday night.
“We’ve had 13 occasions this season where mainly Archie and Danny were called for offsides and video replays strongly suggested that they weren’t offside,” Merrick said.
“Now that’s 13 one-on-one attempts at the opposition goalkeeper in very good scoring chances.
“Thirteen mistakes, 13 out of 21 matches. Some of them are pretty blatant. We are pretty disappointed by that.
“I hope that (incorrect offside) doesn’t affect our opportunities in the finals.”
Merrick said he was unlikely to change his starting 11 from that which performed so well against Wellington Phoenix in the final fixture match of the season a fortnight ago.
That is likely to mean a start for Costa Rican Carlos Hernandez, who will fly out immediately after the match for his country’s World Cup qualifier next week, before a dash back to Melbourne for the A-League semi-final second leg in Melbourne on February 14.
Left-sided wingback Evan Berger is expected to be added the Victory bench.
While Adelaide have controversially decided to recruit Blackburn Rovers midfielder Rostyn Griffiths as a short-term injury player for the finals, Merrick said his club would not consider such a move – suggesting it could have a negative effect on team harmony.
“We’ve got 22 players available. I don’t think some of those boys would be too happy if we brought someone else in,” Merrick said.
“We’re happy with the way we are travelling and that’s what we are focused on.”
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