The fallout from Melbourne City’s ugly loss to Adelaide United could potentially get a whole lot worse, with boss Erick Mombaerts suggesting new signing Jack Hendry succumbed to a serious knee injury in the 3-1 loss.
In just his second Hyundai A-League appearance, Hendry went down clutching his right knee in the dying stages of City’s loss to the Reds at Coopers Stadium, after getting his leg caught in the turf while laying a challenge on Riley McGree.
The defeat was a blow for second-placed City but Mombaerts was quick to brush any concerns about the result aside, as he focussed his full attention on the prognosis of Hendry’s injury.
The 24-year-old central defender joined City in the January transfer window on loan from Scottish giants Celtic as an injury replacement for Richard Windbichler. But, if Mombaerts’ post-match concerns have any merit, it is possible Hendry’s Hyundai A-League journey could come to an end just days after it began.
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“The most important thing also today, we have one player injured,” Mombaerts said post-match.
“I think Hendry has a big injury, it’s for me it’s the most important [thing], the injury of Jack.
“We can lose a game, okay, we’ll be better next time, but if we lose this player for a long time it will be a big problem for us.
“He has a knee injury, I don’t know exactly, but I think it’s a big injury.”
A serious injury to Hendry will be an enormous disappointment for both the player and club after his man of the match display against Perth Glory in Round 16 earned him a place in the Hyundai A-League Team of the Week.
It creates a dilemma for Mombaerts who will have to reshuffle his defensive deck in time for his side’s Round 18 Melbourne Derby against Melbourne Victory on Friday night (7:30pm AEDT), with the added headache of Hendry’s defensive partner Harrison Delbridge missing the clash through suspension.
Delbridge collected his third red card of the campaign for a nasty challenge on Nikola Mileusnic, and Mombaerts says his third dismissal highlights a concerning trend developing in Delbridge’s game.
“It’s always a similar situation, he lost his emotional control and he made a mistake,” Mombaerts said.
“He didn’t control his tackle, maybe he takes the ball but it’s dangerous.
“It’s too much, three red cards, it’s too much. You have to have a better emotional control.”
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6128872353001
While Mombaerts counts the costs of a horror night in Adelaide, Reds boss Gertjan Verbeek is starting to smile once more after his side continued their resurgence with a third consecutive win.
Adelaide lost four games on the bounce between Round 11-14 and their good start to the season looked set to go to waste before wins against Melbourne Victory, Western United and Saturday night’s convincing win over City steadied the ship.
Verbeek credited the impact of rising star McGree as the difference in their uplift in form after the 21-year-old shrugged off a midweek injury to shine once again in Adelaide’s third win on the bounce.
“Riley is an important player for us,” Verbeek said.
“In the four games we lost [two] games he wasn’t there.
“He got a kick on Wednesday from George [Blackwood]… he gave him a kick – that can happen, it’s a contact sport – on Thursday he couldn’t walk on his foot so we were afraid something was broken in his foot.
“On Friday, he could join the training already again. He’s done a lot of jogging in the sea at the beach and that helped him a lot.
“The pain he had [Friday] and [Saturday] he could manage, so it was a little risk but a very small risk I think.
“He said at training ‘I can play’, and when a player says they can play, a player like Riley starts.”
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6128872116001
Round 18
Melbourne City v Melbourne Victory
Friday, 7 February
AAMI Park
Kick off: 7.30pm AEDT
Brisbane Roar v Adelaide United
Saturday, 8 February
Suncorp Stadium
Kick off: 7.30pm AEDT