Perth Glory’s title aspirations have taken a massive nosedive after the club’s trio of Socceroos confirmed they would play no part in this season’s A-League finals.
Marquee striker Mile Sterjovski, midfielder Jacob Burns and defender Chris Coyne will leave the club during January’s transfer window on overseas loan deals in a bid to enhance their prospects of Socceroos selection for the 2010 World Cup.
Their absence for the final few rounds of the season and the finals will leave a massive hole in the fifth-placed Glory’s starting XI, with coach Dave Mitchell already scrambling to find adequate replacements.
But FC Twente striker and fringe Socceroo Nikita Rukavytsya won’t be one of them, with Mitchell pouring cold water on the prospect of luring back the former Glory favourite.
Coyne, Burns and Sterjovski are yet to lock in a club for a loan deal but have formally informed the Glory of their intention to leave.
“The decision is they want to go,” Mitchell said on Friday.
“It will be a situation that will happen hopefully as late as possible in January.
“They’ve said that (they want to leave) and we’re obliging by that because it’s a situation where it’s going to help their chances (of World Cup selection).
“If they did stay and they weren’t selected they would have (wondered) in the back of their minds whether it was because they stayed.
“So for all parties concerned we are looking for the best possible outcome.”
Earlier this month Mitchell flagged the possibility of luring back Rukavytsya for a short spell.
Mitchell wanted Rukavytsya, who has struggled for game time at FC Twente, to return as an injury replacement for Jamie Harnwell.
But with Harnwell just three weeks away from resuming from a serious hamstring injury, Mitchell conceded time had run out.
“He would have come in before now if we were going to bring him in,” Mitchell said.
“It was a scenario where we were trying to bring him in up until the January period when Jamie Harnwell was injured.
“But we didn’t make any moves, we just found out the possibility of him moving back was not there.”
Meanwhile, Mitchell remained hopeful Sterjovski could overcome a stomach bug in time to take part in Sunday’s A-League clash with ladder-leaders Sydney FC at ME Bank Stadium.
“He’s been sick all week so I wanted to see him train today and I’ll assess how he is tomorrow,” Mitchell said.
“He looked all right out there so I’m hopeful.”
Glory defender Jamie Coyne will return to the starting XI after recovering from a thigh injury, while Victor Sikora could also play after shrugging off a hamstring injury.
But midfielder Wayne Srhoj must serve a one-match ban after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season.
Sydney will enter the match without skipper Steve Corica, who is still sidelined by a hamstring injury.
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Here is the way the Roar expert panel sees all the action unfolding across the final weekend of play prior to the semi-finals.
Mathew Leckie played a pivotal part in Melbourne City claiming an 8-nil win; playing a role in several of his team's goals.
The loser of the Sydney Derby will be under immense pressure entering the final three matches of the season.
A good performance from Michael Ruhs, scoring twice to beat Macarthur and doubling his season goal tally in the process.
Sydney moved into fourth with their point but Glory's finals hopes are now officially extinguished.
Anthony Caceres is a player with immense talent and has a fantastic work rate, broke the deadlock against the Mariners in the 74th minute.
