Adelaide United Head Coach, Josep Gombau, has said that although his side will be without key players for their clash with Melbourne City, his side is more than capable of securing a crucial victory on Friday night.
With defenders Nigel Boogaard and Osama Malik set to miss Friday’s Round 19 game at AAMI Park through injury, Gombau will be forced into fielding an alternate defensive line-up. But the Spanish manager believes his players will be able to adjust to the challenge and those that are fit for selection will step-up to the task adequately.
“Mailk has had the medical check this week, a scan, and it showed that he has a little bit of a small fracture (to his ankle),” Gombau explained.
“So it will be about 3-4 weeks that he will be off and after we will see. He has also slight damage to his tendon.
“Bogie, from the recommendation from the doctor is that he stops for 5-6 weeks, but we want him to recover faster and as soon as possible. This week he has had a cortisone injection to take away the pain and to see if he can start to train on Monday.
“But we have players that can (do the job if necessary). Elrich can play at centre back, or we can play with three at the back depending on what the game demands. In this moment, this role of a central defender (can be) covered by Elrich or (Ben Warland).
“(Ben’s) a central defender, he is from our Youth Team and from Adelaide. He’s left-footed and he’s a player that we think can have a good future.
Versatile central midfielder, Isaías, is also certain to miss the match through suspension. However, Gombau declared his confidence in Isaías’ fellow midfielder, Jimmy Jeggo, in being able to fill the shoes left by the Spaniard.
“(Isaías) is a pretty big loss because he’s a player that can bring to us a lot, but I am confident that (Jeggo) will do the job.
“Jimmy is excellent and I am sure he will do a good job. He’s brought a lot to us this season and having him has been a big (positive) for the team.”
Switching focus to the game’s opponents, Melbourne City, as well as the remainder of the season, Gombau stated that he is aware of the numerous threats City can pose throughout the match, but regardless, his side will play their game-style and focus on that from now until the end of the campaign.
“We need to keep going and try to do the best. Of course, this is football and anything can happen, but we have this hunger to try and win.
“It won’t be easy because they (Melbourne City) are doing well and they have new players that have brought new things to the team. They have new movements and new things, but our aim is to go there and to try and win.
“When a team has these changes, you don’t know a lot about them. But you saw in the last two games when they played Wellington and Perth that they’re doing well.”
“But every single game from now until the end (of the season) will be important. (Friday) we want to be in a good position at the end (of the game) and we need to win away from home.”
Adelaide United travel to take on Melbourne City in Round 19 of the Hyundai 2014/15 A-League season on Friday, 27 February at AAMI Park, Melbourne. Kick off at 7.10pm ACDT.
Friday, 27 February 2015
Melbourne City FC v Adelaide United
AAMI Park, Melbourne
Kick-Off: 7:40 PM (Local) (7:40 PM AEDT)
Referee: Alan Milliner
Assistant Referee 1: Brad Hobson
Assistant Referee 2: Ashley Beecham
Fourth Official: Lucien Laverdure
TV Broadcast: Live and exclusive coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 7.00pm (AEDT), Live Coverage on SBS HD & SBS One from 7.30pm AEDT and Sky Sport 2 (New Zealand)
Radio Broadcast: 774 ABC Melbourne, ABC Local Radio VIC, Online/ABC Radio Mobile phone app.
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #MCYvADL
Melbourne City FC squad: 1.Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), 4.Connor CHAPMAN, 5.Erik PAARTALU, 6.Aaron MOOY, 7.Iain RAMSAY, 8.Massimo MURDOCCA, 10.Robert KOREN, 13.Jonatan GERMANO, 15.David WILLIAMS, 16.Josh KENNEDY, 17.Jason HOFFMAN, 18.Paulo RETRE, 20.Tando VELAPHI (GK), 22.Jack CLISBY, 24.Patrick KISNORBO (c), 27.Kew JALIENS, 29.Safuwan BAHARUDIN
***one to be omitted***
Ins: 7.Iain RAMSAY (promoted), 13.Jonatan GERMANO (promoted)
Outs: 25.Jacob MELLING (knee – 3-4 weeks)
Unavailable: 3.Robbie WIELAERT (ankle 5-6 weeks), 11.Damien DUFF (ankle/calf – indefinite), 14.James BROWN (knee – 1-2 weeks), 19.Ben GARUCCIO (ankle – 9-10 weeks), 23.Mate DUGANDZIC (knee – 1-2 weeks)
Adelaide United squad: 1.Eugene GALEKOVIC (GK) (c), 2.Michael MARRONE, 4.Dylan McGOWAN, 7.PABLO SÁNCHEZ, 9.Sergio CIRIO, 10.Marcelo CARRUSCA, 11.Bruce DJITE, 12.Mark OCHIENG, 14.Cameron WATSON, 15.Ben WARLAND, 16.Craig GOODWIN, 17.Awer MABIL, 18.Jimmy JEGGO, 19.Miguel PALANCA, 20.Paul IZZO (GK), 21.Tarek ELRICH, 24.Bruce KAMAU, 32.Nathan KONSTANDOPLOUS
***two to be omitted***
Ins: 12.Mark OCHIENG (promoted), 15.Ben WARLAND (promoted), 24.Bruce KAMAU (promoted), 32.Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS (promoted)
Outs: 5.Osama MALIK (ankle – 2 weeks), 8.ISAÍAS (suspended – 1 week)
Unavailable: 3.Nigel BOOGAARD (knee – 1 week), 23.Jordan ELSEY (knee – indefinite)
