Melbourne Victory have axed brilliant playmaker Carlos Hernandez for Wednesday night’s blockbuster friendly against Celtic at AAMI Park.
Hernandez paid the penalty for returning to Australia late, following a recent trial with MLS outfit Real Salt Lake.
Victory coach Mehmet Durakovic revealed on Monday that the Costa Rican midfielder would be a no-show against the Scottish giants as a disciplinary measure.
“Carlos won’t be playing on Wednesday night,” Durakovic said.
“He went to America on trials of his own accord. He rocked up yesterday and trained today. We knew he was going to go on trials.”
“We had some basic points to work out, told him to come back on the 4th of July, which he didn’t. I decided … he won’t be playing.”
But Durakovic stressed that the 29-year-old, who has played 33 internationals for his country, still was a required player at the club.
“He’s still a Melbourne Victory player, he’s very important to us and we need him this year,” Durakovic said.
“As it is, we’ve got rules and Carlos won’t be playing this week.”
Hernandez apart, Durakovic kept his cards close when quizzed on the make-up of the Victory side in the presence of Celtic counterpart Neil Lennon.
“We’ve just started pre-season, it’s only our fifth day (back),” Durakovic said.
“We’ll be putting as many players (as we can) on the pitch, Celtic are (past) European Champions and what a fantastic opportunity for our players to play against a top team in Europe.”
Durakovic confirmed high-profile recruit Jean Carlos Solorzano would make his Victory debut, but it is likely to come from the bench with Danny Allsopp and Archie Thompson tipped to start up front.
One man Celtic will be keeping a close eye on is Victory’s midfield general Grant Brebner, who is a familiar face to Lennon, having come up against him during his days as a player.
“Grant was a very good footballer, he had a good career in Scotland at Hibs for a while and Dundee United,” Lennon said.
“He knew his way around the football pitch, he could handle the ball under pressure and played for some very good teams in Scotland.”
