Departing Adelaide United defender Iain Fyfe will miss what was to be his farewell match for the club against the Central Coast Mariners tomorrow night due to a hamstring injury.
Tomorrow night-s blockbuster was expected to be Fyfe-s final game for the Reds before he departs for Korea to join K-League club Busan I-Park, but the experienced defender is being hampered by a hamstring injury, leaving him unavailable to play.
While it would have been fitting for Fyfe, who has made 52 Hyundai A-League appearances and scored five goals in two seasons at the club, to feature one last time for the Reds, he and Head Coach Rini Coolen both agreed allowing him to play would be too much of a threat to take considering the magnitude of the game in the context of the Reds- season.
“Unfortunately he (Fyfe) stopped at training yesterday, so he-s not fit for tomorrow,” Coolen said.
“He (Fyfe) had some problems with his hamstring. It might not be a big problem but it-s something that we-ll find out during the day tomorrow. It-s a little kind of risk and it-s not worth taking that risk and finding out after a couple of minutes that it-s not good enough, so we spoke together and made that decision.”
“It would have been fantastic for him if he could have played that game tomorrow and we could take him off in the last couple of minutes to thank the supporters, but unfortunately sometimes things don-t happen the way you want them to.”
“We spoke about it, that-s the way it is and at least he won his last game with us last week.”
Although Fyfe will be disappointed not to run out onto Hindmarsh Stadium for one last time tomorrow night, an 8-1 win against the North Queensland Fury is not a bad note to go out on.
Robert Cornthwaite will replace Fyfe in the centre of the Reds- defence, the curtain having come down on Fyfe-s time at the Reds, at least for now.
Adelaide United supporters will have the opportunity to acknowledge Fyfe-s contribution for the club prior to kick-off. Tickets for the match are available through Ticketek.
