Queensland Roar coach Frank Farina remains hopeful that Charlie Miller could make a return to Hyundai A-League action in as few as four weeks following double hernia surgery.
Miller set the competition on fire early on in the season, slotting seven goals and creating countless others from his playmaker role in the midfield.
He was diagnosed with a hernia ailment and soon developed a double hernia, but Farina elected to delay the necessary surgery until the end of the season.
Miller vowed to play through the pain, but after having to toil just to get through training last week, Farina had no choice but to book the Scotsman in for surgery.
“It was a bit of a blow, I suppose when I saw how he trained during that week after he’d had a couple of injections, well I think I could have put (assistant coach) Rado (Vidosic) in the team and he would have done a better job,” Farina lamented.
“He was struggling and we had the discussion on Saturday where I just said ‘let’s get it done, because there may be a chance you’ll get back before the end of the regular season’.”
“I think it was the best thing, because otherwise, if he kept pushing it, he could have potentially lost confidence, then he wouldn’t have had any time left.”
Miller went under the knife this week and Farina was upbeat about early reports on the surgery.
“I spoke to him last night after the operation and it all seems positive,” he said.
“(Physiotherapist) Tony Ganter was saying this morning that he could potentially be back in four weeks, so that would mean he’d be available for the last two games, but we’ll just have to wait and see how he comes out of it.”
“Because we’ve had it done, there’s a good chance that he will be back in four weeks, and the surgeon is very pleased with it.”
Meanwhile Craig Moore had follow-up tests this week after undergoing surgery for testicular cancer last month.
Farina said the whole Roar camp was behind Moore.
“Craig had the tests yesterday, he won’t have the results until Monday, but the players are all aware of what Craig’s situation is,” he said.
“But I think the way Craig’s handling himself and his demeanour around the dressing room and within the team itself is fantastic, it just shows his strength of character.”
“We’ve all quietly got our fingers crossed, not only for Craig’s sake but for us as a team and a club, that he’s fine.”
