James Troisi will make his first appearance for Melbourne Victory in over two years when the Westfield FFA Cup title-holders visit Hume City in the Round of 16 on Wednesday.
Victory received an international transfer certificate for Troisi in the early hours of Tuesday, and coach Kevin Muscat confirmed the 28-year-old attacker will play “some part” versus Hume.
Troisi, who signed for Victory at the start of the month, also played for the Big V in the 2013-14 season, scoring 15 goals in 35 matches in all competitions.
When asked what condition Troisi is in, Muscat said: “Reasonable. We’ve had an opportunity over the last seven to 10 days to get some work into him as well – just progressively – but he’ll definitely be involved in some part tomorrow night.”
Wednesday night’s FFA Cup tie will be a rematch of last year’s semi-final where Victory ended Hume’s fairytale run with a 3-0 win at AAMI Park.
Victory then won the cup competition with a 2-0 triumph over Perth Glory.
Having faced the NPL Victoria club regularly in pre-season friendlies over the past few years, Muscat knows it won’t be an easy match for his side.
“If you’re not on your game and you’re attitude is not right – well, you’re running the risk [of defeat],” he said.
When asked how highly he rates Hume compared to the rest of NPL Victoria, Muscat added: “They’re right up there in my view.
“You’ve just got to go down there [to ABD Stadium] and have a look at their facilities and where they train, and they’ve had some reasonable success over the last four or five years.”
Hume defeated Marconi Stallions on penalties in the Round of 32, while Victory started the defence of their FFA Cup title with a 3-1 win away to Newcastle Jets.
