Mile Sterjovski and Tando Velaphi could return for Perth Glory on Saturday against Brisbane Roar at ME Bank Stadium and coach Dave Mitchell is hopeful Chris Coyne can overcome a corked thigh as well.
The Glory will by Saturday know whether or not they have to beat the Roar to book fourth place on the Hyundai A-League ladder with the current holders of that position Wellington hosting Central Coast on Friday night.
If the Phoenix win that game, the Glory can’t finish fourth, but a Wellington loss or draw to the Mariners leaves the door open for Perth to grab fourth place and the home final that comes with it with a victory over the out of contention Roar.
Jacob Burns is still struggling with a tear in his hamstring and Sterjovski, Velaphi, Adriano Pellegrino and Victor Sikora are trying to get up for the clash, and now Coyne is also battling after copping his cork at training.
“Mile is more likely to play rather than Jacob. Tando is looking OK and he’s another one that could play, but we will wait and see later on in the week,” Mitchell said.
“It’s the time of year that the final game’s coming up and everyone wants to be part of it so we want to make sure they’re all fit and raring to go.”
Mitchell remains confident that despite the injury issues the Glory can perform strongly ahead of their first finals campaign and he’s calling on his old mate Lawrie McKinna and his Central Coast Mariners to do them a favour in Wellington on Friday.
“Going into the game we will know what Central Coast will have done, which will be a bit of bonus for us,” Mitchell said.
“We are strong at home, so hopefully the Mariners get a result over there. It is a big ask, but it’s Lawrie’s last game and he will probably want to go out on a strong note.”
“The A-League is that topsy-turvy you never know what is going to happen – we have just got to make sure we hold up our end of the bargain which is win the game.”
After training on Wednesday, Sterjovski and Velaphi looked to have the strongest chances of returning this week, while Mitchell will wait to see how Coyne pulls up before making a call on his chances of playing.
“We will just see how they train today and tomorrow, and then make a decision on them later in the week. No calls have been made yet, but we just want to make sure that they get through training and then how they feel,” he said.
“It was a cork (for Coyne), he is getting treatment immediately and hopefully he will be OK. If it is the best thing to do he will have to miss out. It would be a blow, but hopefully it won’t be.”
