Midfielders Carlos Hernandez and Albert Riera look set to play for Wellington Phoenix against Brisbane Roar on Saturday despite injury concerns.
Midfielders Carlos Hernandez and Albert Riera look set to play for Wellington Phoenix against Brisbane Roar on Saturday despite injury concerns.
Hernandez (quadriceps) did not make the trip with the Phoenix to Perth last week as the Glory triumphed 4-2, while Riera was subbed off in the second half with a reoccurrence of a groin strain.
But Wellington’s head coach Ernie Merrick remains confident both midfielders will be available for at least a bench role when the Phoenix host Brisbane at Westpac Stadium, although the Scotsman is worried about Paul Ifill’s (groin) long-term fitness.
“Carlos (Hernandez) had a good hit-out today – light but good – and Paul Ifill was the same but we’ll really have to see how they come up tomorrow morning,” Merrick said on Friday.
“The other one was Albert (Riera), he’s had some treatment during the week, so those three we’ll make a final call on tomorrow morning.”
Ifill’s failure to complete 90 minutes versus Perth has given Merrick some worries as he wonders what to with the 34-year-old attacker for the rest of the season.
“With Paul, he’s been coming off the bench – an impact player for 25 minutes, 30 minutes – and doing a great job and scoring goals and setting up goals,” Wellington’s coach said.
“Every time I go to start him, he breaks down and can’t see out the game. So I’ve got concerns about his ability to play for 90 minutes.”
The Phoenix have yet to win this season and must face the A-League leaders this weekend but Merrick will not set his team out to just resist the Roar.
“You’ve got to take the game up to them and there’s always risks at the back because of that but we did it against the Wanderers here and I thought that was probably our best game,” Merrick said.
Merrick remains convinced only Perth have genuinely outplayed Wellington this season but the 60-year-old former Melbourne Victory coach has conceded good performances do not mean much if the Phoenix do not start winning soon.
“We all feel we’ve let the fans down,” Merrick said.
“We feel we should have won three games and we let it slip. And there was a couple of draws we should have had that we let slip in the last minute of the game.
“So, (the players are) very much committed to achieving something for our tremendous fans.”
