In-demand striker Alex Brosque is an outside chance to return for Sydney FC’s must-win clash with Central Coast Mariners on Sunday, coach Vitezslav Lavicka has confirmed.
In-demand striker Alex Brosque is an outside chance to return for Sydney FC’s must-win clash with Central Coast Mariners on Sunday, coach Vitezslav Lavicka has confirmed.
Brosque, who received a lucrative offer from influential Japanese club Shimizu S-Pulse overnight, has been sidelined for a month with a groin injury.
The 27-year-old was not named in an extended squad for the Mariners game but trained strongly on Friday morning, fuelling speculation he is set to line-up against Graham Arnold’s men.
But while Lavicka says he will give Brosque until kick-off to prove his fitness, he is adamant he won’t take any chances with his star striker.
“For this weekend there is a very small chance for Alex Brosque to play,” a cautious Lavicka said on Friday morning.
“He is supposed to be back but still we must manage him because we know that his injury is very dangerous, so he’s needs maybe a couple of days to fully recover.”
“He started training with us and he will do the full session today but we must be very, very careful about it.”
In other injury news, Mark Bridge (stomach) and defender Hayden Foxe (groin) will both miss the match after failing to train on Friday.
The defending champions must win their remaining five games and have other results go their way in order to make the top six at the end of the regular season.
And while the coach says his charges are playing their best football of the campaign, he knows it won’t be easy against an in-form Mariners line-up that thumped the Sky Blues 4-0 back in December.
“We did probably the worst team performance of this season last time against them, but I think we’ve improved since that game,” Lavicka said.
“The Mariners have had a very good season this year, they have a good team and they have confidence.”
“We saw the last two games they played in Newcastle and midweek in Perth they did very well, so we expect a very tough game.”
“They have one of the best A-League teams this season, so we have a small mathematical chance to reach the finals series and that means we have to get a good result up there and that’s a great challenge for us.”
Meanwhile, Lavicka hopes the board’s decision to guarantee his position for the duration of the upcoming Asian Champions League will allow players to focus solely on football.
“Of course I am happy because as I told the Sydney FC board I am happy here,” he said.
“I am happy to do my job for Sydney FC so now that everything is clear for the rest of this season I think it’s better for all of us.”
