Perth coach Dave Mitchell is hoping to have his three Olympic squad members available to potentially play against Adelaide United on Sunday afternoon.
Perth coach Dave Mitchell is hoping to have his three Olympic squad members available to potentially play against Adelaide United on Sunday afternoon.
Striker Nikita Rukavytsya, defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley and goalkeeper Tando Velaphi were all part of the Olyroos side that missed out on qualifying for the next stage of the Olympic competition after losing their final group match 1-0 to Ivory Coast on Wednesday night.
In a cruel blow to the Australians, Chelsea midfielder Saloman Kalou finished off a fast break from the Ivory Coast defence, firing in the deciding goal in the 80th minute after the Aussies had dominated the contest, with Rukavytsya in particular missing several gilt-edged chances.
But, instead of dwelling on the loss, Mitchell believes his three players will get over the disappointment quicker by being brought straight back into their club squad for the match against Adelaide, although he admits this will be dependent on the team’s flights from Beijing.
“I think they’d be disappointed, it’s a big thing in your career and to bomb out the way they did was unfortunate,” said Mitchell.
“I think they’d want to have a bit of time for themselves, but it’s important they come back to us and be part of the squad.”
“I don’t know about bringing them (straight) back into the side,” he added. “But, I want to try and bring them back to be available because they haven’t been part of the squad for the last 12 weeks.”
“I think it’s important they get together with us as soon as possible and start to get in the frame of the A-League players and the Perth Glory players and it’s important they get back on track with us.”
“Whether they play on the bench or (they’re) in the stands, I don’t know … it’s (just) important to get the Perth Glory hat on as soon as possible.”
The coach may be tempted to bring Topor-Stanley back into the team if he can, to replace injured central defender Hayden Foxe, who will miss the next month of football with a bruised foot.
But regardless of the side he chooses, Mitchell said he would probably adopt a more defensive strategy to start with in order to allow his players to acquaint themselves with the Reds’ new players, before attempting to exploit any weaknesses later in the match.
“They’re missing a few players, we’re missing a few players, I think you have to sound things out a little bit and take things as they go and then stamp your authority and maybe get in the game,” he said.
