Jake Brimmer’s early injury diagnosis is “not good”, according to Melbourne Victory assistant Luciano Traini.
Brimmer hobbled off with a knee injury before half-time in Victory’s 1-1 draw at home to rivals Adelaide United in the Isuzu UTE A-League on Sunday.
The reigning Johnny Warren Medallist went down to the turf grimacing in pain and holding his left knee after a contest with Javi Lopez.
Though able to wave away a stretcher, he required support from Victory trainers as he slowly made his way down the players’ race.
“The diagnosis is not good at this early stage, until we get a full report,” Traini said.
“The way that he’s feeling at the moment, it’s not good, unfortunately.
“He has a lot of pain in his knee.
“If he was to miss for some period of time we would definitely miss him.”
Teenage sensation Nestor Irankunda salvaged a point for high-flying Adelaide at AAMI Park, where the two teams contested the first A-League Men Pride Cup.
Down 1-0 after Bruno Fornaroli put Victory ahead from the penalty spot six minutes prior, the Reds’ appeared set for defeat at AAMI Park until Irankunda’s 87th-minute blast.
Adding another highlight to his young career, the 17-year-old found space outside Victory’s area and launched a thunderbolt into the top corner before backflipping away in celebration.
No team in ALM has proven more adept at late comebacks than Adelaide in recent years and Sunday was no different.
Adelaide head coach Carl Veart, however, didn’t believe that his side should have been in a deficit.
He took issue with the VAR intervention that awarded Fornaroli’s penalty after a collision between Alexandar Popovic and Damien Da Silva at a corner.
“It’s there for bad mistakes and we’re using it far too much,” Veart said. “I don’t know why something like that was looked at.
“We’re making it very difficult for ourselves and for people to have enjoyment of the game.
“The players also have to take a lot of the blame as well, they fall over far too easily, trying to con the referees, and then they complain when it goes against them.”
Victory will take heart from picking up seven points from a possible 12 across the past month and looking improved from the side that was freefalling at the foot of the ALM table.
