Sydney FC coach Frank Farina has all-but conceded Socceroos veteran Brett Emerton will miss Friday’s season opener against Newcastle due to back spasms.
Sydney FC coach Frank Farina has all-but conceded Socceroos veteran Brett Emerton will miss Friday’s season opener against Newcastle due to back spasms.
The 34-year-old was unable to complete Wednesday’s training session and was a no-show at the Sky Blues’ final run on Thursday morning.
“He’s pulled up pretty much the same as yesterday – tight – so he’s 50-50 to be fair,” Farina said.
“We’ll see how it is tomorrow but I’m not expecting him to be quite ready, he’ll be right for next week though.”
Asked if Emerton’s ailment is new or a reoccurrence of an existing problem, Farina replied: “He’s had ongoing problems with his back but nothing major and as I said this is a spasm and he’s going to see the doctor this morning.
“I’m fully expecting he’ll be right to even start training next week.”
Emerton is not the only key player set to miss the Jets clash, with Terry Antonis (quad), Peter Triantis (osteitis pubis) , Terry McFlynn (groin), Pascal Bosschaart (Achilles), Corey Gameiro and Tiago Calvano also unavailable.
Farina is confident he has the depth to field a competitive side in Round 1 but admits he’s still unsure whether former Melbourne Heart utility Matthew Thompson, who ran with the starting side on Thursday, will be available for selection.
The Sky Blues have offered Thompson a short-term deal until the end of this year but are still waiting for the green light from the FFA.
Asked if he’ll consider starting the 31-year-old is if his clearance comes through in time, Farina replied: “We don’t know, he might not even be on the bench if the paperwork doesn’t come through (but he trained with the first team) just to get him familiarised with what we’re doing.
“But we’ve got other people who can fill that role as well.”
The Jets also enter the season opener below full strength with former England striker Emile Heskey unavailable with a knee injury suffered in a pre-season fixture.
But Farina played down the significance of Heskey’s absence and warned his players to expect a tough challenge against a side they were unable to beat in three attempts last season.
“We’d all like to do that (get off to a winning start) but Newcastle were most probably our bogey side last year,” he said.
“We didn’t beat them, I mean I was here for two games against them and we drew one and lost one and we lost the first one.
“But let’s hope it’s the opposite this year and we’ve got the first game at home and we want to get off to a good start, as does every other team, and I think we’re equipped to do well.”
