Melbourne Victory’s A-League title hopes and Archie Thompson’s World Cup aspirations have been damaged after the star striker was sidelined for at least a month through injury.
Scans revealed Thompson has a broken bone in his foot.
He joins suspended Melbourne skipper Kevin Muscat on the sidelines for the two remaining fixtures which will determine whether the Victory can secure a top two finish.
Coach Ernie Merrick said Thompson’s best case scenario was to resume playing in week two of the A-League finals.
That also leaves the 31-year-old a mountain to climb to have any hope of making the Socceroos’ World Cup squad, as he won’t be fit enough to play in the Asian Cup qualifier against Indonesia in Brisbane on March 3.
Thompson would then only have the Victory’s Asian Champions League campaign to impress ahead of the World Cup squad being named in May.
In a dismal 24 hours for the Victory, the club also ruled out appealing Muscat’s two-match suspension for elbowing Gold Coast’s Jason Culina in the head, which sidelines the skipper until the first week of the finals.
Losing their two most influential players leading up to the finals is a huge blow to the defending champions, who are locked in a three-way battle with Sydney FC and Gold Coast United for major semi-final places.
But Merrick was putting a brave face on the Victory’s title chase despite Thompson’s loss.
“It’s always tough when you lose to players like Archie Thompson and Kevin Muscat, but that’s football,” Merrick said.
“It’s not good news (about Thompson) but our surgeon has suggested it doesn’t need surgery at all … so he should be right to play for us in the second part of the finals series.
“We’ve got good depth and good strength up front as well as at the back.
“We’ve got a tremendous belief in the players that we have. We think we’re well set up to go well in both the finals and the Asian Champions League.”
Adding to the Victory’s woes is that Robbie Kruse – Thompson’s nominal replacement in a more advanced striker’s role – is still under an injury cloud of his own since being pole-axed by Gold Coast midfielder Steve Pantelidis last weekend.
Merrick said Kruse was only a “60-40” chance of recovering from his shoulder injury in time for Friday night’s clash with North Queensland Fury at Etihad Stadium.
Rarely-played striker Nathan Elasi has been added to the Victory squad as cover for Kruse.
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