Melbourne Heart coach John van ‘t Schip is hopeful of having club captain Fred available for Friday night’s clash with Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium.
The star midfielder missed Heart’s draws with Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC after straining a hamstring in the 2-1 loss to Perth Glory in Round 2.
While he’s still considered doubtful, a strong performance on the training track at La Trobe University on Wednesday could change everything, according to the coach.
“He’s going very quick with his recovery, so hopefully he makes some good steps today and tomorrow and then we can make a decision,” said van ‘t Schip.
Van ‘t Schip said his side, languishing on the bottom of the A-League table, would do whatever it took to score a breakthrough win on Friday night.
He said it’s no consolation that they ‘deserved more’ from their draws with Victory and the Sky Blues as well as the 3-2 opening-round loss to Newcastle.
“What counts is that we’ve played four games and got two points,” said van ‘t Schip.
“Everyone will forget in a few weeks’ time that we’ve played very well and had no luck.”
“Luck you deserve by working hard and believing in what you are doing and then it will turn around.”
“Hopefully that will start on Friday.”
Van ‘t Schip said he expects the Reds to rebound strongly from last Friday night’s humiliating 7-1 loss to Brisbane Roar.
“They have to show their fans back in Adelaide that it was a big mistake,” he said.
“They have a good team because if you look at all the people telling who’s going to finish high in the league this year Adelaide was top with Brisbane and Victory and that hasn’t gone away.”
Meanwhile, Melbourne Heart have been boosted by the signing of five-time Socceroos defender Adrian Madaschi.
The 29-year-old, who’s been training with Melbourne Victory, will be in the selection mix for Friday night pending the approval of his clearance from Portosummaga in Italy’s Lega Pro Prima Divisione.
