Gold Coast United’s injury crisis has worsened with the news that captain Jason Culina’s season is effectively over after the Socceroo underwent surgery on his troublesome knee in Sydney last week.
Culina has been carrying the injury for most of the season and was forced to leave Australia’s Asian Cup campaign in Qatar early after it flared up in the the opening match against India.
Scheduled to see a specialist this week, Culina instead opted to see one last week in Sydney and had surgery the next day for minor keyhole surgery to clean up the knee.
“I wanted to do it myself. I was hoping to finish off this season but unfortunately because of what I decided, I decided it was better to get it fixed which was important to me,” Culina said.
“The news (from the specialist) was just as I expected, better than I thought which was good and I had surgery the next day. It was just a bit of a cleanup and I’ll be back and playing strong shortly. Here I am feeling strong and feeling good and here to support the boys.”
“I’ll do my best to make it in time (for the finals) but at the moment it’s not looking that way. I wanted to be a part of the team and of the finals series and unfortunately we’ll just have to wait and see now.”
“It’s disappointing but we’ve got a good enough team to do really well in the finals. It’s just a matter of finishing off these last four games, getting as many points as possible and I’ll be right behind the boys every step of the way.”
The news comes at an inopportune time for coach Miron Bleiberg, whose side faces four games in the next two weeks that will decide their placing on the ladder – three of which are against the top three sides on the ladder, including another edition of the M1 Derby against Brisbane on February 12 where the Roar will be presented with the Premiers’ Plate in front of an expected bumper crowd at the re-opening of Suncorp Stadium.
But on a more positive note for Bleiberg, midfielder Bas van den Brink is expected to be sidelined for just one week after a tackle from Grant Brebner forced the Dutchman off the field just five minutes into United’s 2-0 loss away to Melbourne Victory at the weekend.
German import Peter Perchtold and Ivorian flyer Adama Traore also picked up knocks in the match but they are expected to be clear to face Adelaide United on Wednesday night at Skilled Park.
