North Queensland Fury will unleash Ugandan international Eugene Sseppuya in their first home clash of the Hyundai A-League season against Sydney FC on Saturday night.
But assistant coach Stuart McLaren says just how long the Sky Blues have to contain the striker, who received his international player clearance on Wednesday, is far from settled as the 27-year-old mounts his case for a starting spot with the Townsville-based club.
“We have brought him here because he is a certain type of player that we didn’t have in the front third,” McLaren said.
“So Frankie (Fury coach Franz Straka) is looking favourably at including him in the squad, but he has only been here a relatively short period of time.”
The question is if Sseppuya, a marksman who has plied his trade in Major League Soccer in the
United States and most recently in Slovenia, has managed to build a rapport with fellow attackers in the fortnight he has been in Australia.
“Eugene brings a different dimension to the way we play and it would be remiss of us not to have him in the squad for the weekend,” McLaren said.
“The question comes down to whether or not we think he has been around long enough to develop those understanding with the other players in the front part of the pitch, most obviously with
(Isaka) Cernak, (Chris) Payne and David Williams.”
“If he shows by Friday that he does then he stars, but if we feel that maybe he is not quite there yet and that it would disrupt the team then we start him off the bench.
“There is no doubt we will need to use his qualities and those of others to give us best opportunity to get a result.”
And the selection dilemma doesn’t stop there with captain Ufuk Talay passed fit to reclaim his armband and face Sydney.
But with the midfield working efficiently without him in the opening round 3-3 draw with Perth, having teenager Osama Malik thrive alongside stand-in skipper Gareth Edds, the spot remains up for debate.
“Uffie is right in contention, his quality unquestionable, his leadership is what teams needs,” McLaren said.
“It’s a situation that all coaches want, a full complement of players and all in reasonably good form.”
Meanwhile, the Fury have announced the signing of former Brisbane youth player Brad McDonald from the Brisbane Strikers in the Queensland Soccer League.
