Adelaide United is sweating on the fitness of Scott Jamieson and Alemao ahead of their Hyundai A-League preliminary final clash against Queensland Roar.
Jamieson has been walking around on crutches after rolling his ankle during a training session while Alemao has a leg injury also thanks to a clash during the week.
Both players will be given until Saturday morning to prove they are ready to play. Coach Aurelio Vidmar is optimistic the duo will take part in the Hindmarsh Stadium contest.
“We are going to wait until the very last minute,” Vidmar said.
“At this point of time, it (Jamieson’s ankle) is a little bit swollen but he’s a pretty tough nut and knowing Scotty …he’ll move heaven and earth to play.”
“At this point I could say he is 90 per cent sure of playing.”
“The crutches are just are precaution, to take the weight off and what he’s been doing yesterday and so far today is resting it and icing it.”
Alemao is a vital cog in the Reds’ line-up but his injury could open up an opportunity for the out-of-favour Ang Costanzo to join the squad.
“We’ve got concerns with Scott Jamieson and also Alemao, he’s got a pretty nasty cork which he received at training on Wednesday and he hasn’t been able to do anything this week,” Vidmar said.
“He only ran at about 60 per cent this morning so once again he’ll be having a little test tomorrow so there’s a couple of players, and Angelo is one of them, who will be on standby.”
One play definitely ruled out is midfielder Diego. Vidmar said the Brazilian, who has been released by the club for next season, wasn’t fit enough to take part in a cut-throat contest like the preliminary final.
“We had a good chat a couple of times this week and he’s just out of condition basically. He’s been out along time after that quad injury – he trained with us all last week and then this week he started to feel just a little bit tight through the hamstrings so he won’t be right,” Vidmar said.
The Reds coach has tried to stay upbeat despite these setbacks.
“When it rains it pours doesn’t it? We’ve had a lot of those situations throughout the course of the year, a lot them, and the players that have actually come in have always stepped up. We’ve got full confidence in the squad that we have to go out there and perform and perform well,” he said.
But he admitted it wasn’t ideal – especially when other players were out of the game for other reasons.
“If Cassio looks back at the red card he got (against Melbourne), he’d realise it was extremely silly and things like that happen with Scotty’s ankle and then he starts kicking himself,” he said.
“I did make a joke of it yesterday. I brought him (Cassio) into the changeroom and told him that the FFA had just rang me and had rescinded your red card …and he believed me for a minute.”
