Adelaide United is hopeful Lucas Pantelis and Paul Reid will be available for Round 2 after the duo were injured in the Reds’ victory over Perth Glory at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday.
Pantelis lasted just 18 minutes before hobbling off the field with a ‘corkie’ on his hip bone while Paul Reid’s night came to an end after landing heavily in the midfield early in the second half.
Coach Aurelio Vidmar said Reid’s blow to the head wasn’t as bad as first thought.
“He’s not concussed but he was quite dizzy so we were not going to take any risks there and we took him off,” he said.
“The good thing is we have got a full week, we’ve got Sydney on Sunday which’ll give us a fair bit of time to recover and give them every opportunity.
“I would think Reidy shouldn’t be a problem, Lucas at this stage is 50/50.”
Pantelis and Reid join a raft of first-choice players in the medical rooms with Fabian Barbiero (groin), Daniel Mullen (hamstring) and Kristian Sarkies (calf) still a few weeks away from playing. Recruits Lloyd Owusu and Mark Rudan are also looking to improve their fitness before they’ll be considered for selection.
However the injuries suffered on Friday opened up opportunities for some of the Reds’ younger players to get some valuable game time. Michael Marrone came on in the first half while Joey Costa replaced Reid in the second half.
Vidmar said it was a solid first-up effort by Costa.
“His 30 minutes felt like three games combined, obviously a 17-year-old kid making his debut and it really shows what level the A-League is at, at this point of time and it’ll only get better,” he said.
“He did OK for the first 30 minutes but he’ll improve. I’m really excited about the future for those kids unfortunately we couldn’t put Franky Monterosso on … he’ll probably get a taste some time during the course of the year.”
Vidmar was also full of praise for captain Travis Dodd, Adam Hughes, Scott Jamieson and striker Cristiano who ran and chased hard.
“That’s probably one part of his (Cristiano’s) game that needed improving and he’s aware of that and he really made a really fantastic effort tonight. If he can get that as part of his game, to a higher level than it’s obviously going to benefit him and the team,” he said.
