Melbourne Victory are set to welcome back star recruit Louis D’Arrigo for next week’s Melbourne Derby showdown against defending Isuzu UTE A-League champions Melbourne City.
Victory lured D’Arrigo back to Australia from Poland but the former Adelaide United is yet to make his league bow for the 2024-25 runners-up due to injury.
CLICK HERE TO BECOME AN A-LEAGUES CLUB MEMBER TODAY!
The 24-year-old midfielder will miss Friday night’s clash with Perth Glory but is closing in on a return.
WEEKENED PREVIEW: What you need to know for Round 3 of the Isuzu UTE A-League
“Louis hasn’t got up for it,” Arthur Diles said ahead of Round 3, though the Victory head coach is hopeful of having captain Roderick Miranda part of the travelling squad against Perth.
“But he should be right now for the Derby.”
Perth sit at the foot of the table following a 4-0 loss away to City, while Victory are coming off a 5-2 defeat against Newcastle Jets.
“It makes it a little bit more unknown in terms of what to expect from the opponent,” Diles said of Perth’s coaching change.
“When these things happen, you can get a real positive reaction from a playing group.”
Diles continued: “Irrespective of what’s happened over there, it’s going to be a very tough game, and one we’ve got to be up for, and we’ve got to make sure we do everything right in our own process and our own performance and worry about ourselves first.
“If we do that, then everything else will take care of itself.”
