Adelaide United captain Travis Dodd is in doubt for Tuesday’s clash against Perth Glory after injuring himself in his team’s 1-1 draw with Central Coast at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday.
Dodd received a corked hip when he clashed with Nigel Boogard in the ninth minute of the contest but managed to score a goal and play for 56 minutes before being replaced.
United coach Aurelio Vidmar said his captain did well to keep competing in the second half.
“We let him go, what happens at the break is they (injuries) cool down although he went on the bike and ticked over but we could see after five or so minutes that he was struggling,” Vidmar said.
“He put up his hand to say give us a few more minutes, which we did, but I thought the longer the game was going to go he was going to get into a worse situation.”
Vice-captain Lucas Pantelis said he was unsure whether Dodd would be free for Tuesday’s clash given his experiences with similar injuries.
“I copped one in Round 1. It all depends where it got him, mine was directly on the hip bone which was a bit tough to recover from but I recovered for the week after,” Pantelis said.
“A four-day turnaround, hopefully he can recover, but it all depends where it got him.”
Meanwhile Vidmar said his team battled hard against the Mariners but didn’t always pick the right time to ‘pull the trigger’ in attack.
And he said last week’s disappointing result, which saw the Gold Coast score an injury-time goal to force a draw, may have affected the players’ approach on Friday.
“Last week was a fantastic performance and just when we thought we were going to hang on for three points we didn’t. That also affects confidence and is one of those things,” Vidmar said.
“Tonight wasn’t up to par on how we played last week but a different game, different mindset maybe.”
United remains on the bottom of the ladder and is still two points behind ninth-placed Wellington.
It’s unlikely it will be able to reach the finals but Vidmar hasn’t given up all hope.
“I’m not really going to bother (assessing the team’s finals chances) until after Tuesday’s game (but) if we keep drawing the situation becomes increasingly difficult,” he said.
