Melbourne Victory’s surge towards the A-League finals series will receive a major boost with the return of Socceroos striker Robbie Kruse for Wednesday’s clash against Newcastle at Etihad Stadium.
Kruse, who featured in Australia’s Asian Cup Final loss to Japan, arrives back at the perfect time with playmaker Carlos Hernandez set to miss at least two matches after sustaining a groin injury.
The Costa Rican came off at halftime in Victory’s 2-0 home win over the Gold Coast at AAMI Park on Sunday.
Striker Danny Allsopp scored both goals to take his tally to five in four matches during what is his second spell at Victory following stints in Qatar and the United States.
And with Archie Thompson likely to return for Victory’s last regular season game against Adelaide United, how to fit four quality attackers in the one line-up is a conundrum Victory coach Ernie Merrick is looking forward tackling.
“I’d like to have that problem,” Merrick said.
“Robbie comes back and gives us another option. Our expectation is that he will play on Wednesday night. (As for) Archie, we’re aiming for Adelaide away – that’s our target, he’s certainly training well.”
Victory virtually sealed their place in the playoffs with the authoritative win over Miron Bleiberg’s men thanks to one of their most impressive 90-minute performances of the season.
“I thought today in all areas we were quite outstanding and threatened at goal right until the end,” Merrick said.
“The performance was a huge bonus after a couple of indifferent performances where we got a result, we seemed to get both a result and performance today.”
“The boys have pulled together really well and that’s the good thing about the culture at this club, when it counts everyone works for each other and that’s the result you get.”
While the Victory’s senior players such as two-goal hero Allsopp, skipper Adrian Leijer and midfielder Grant Brebner were fine contributors, it was the Victory’s generation next which caught the attention of the coach.
“Some of the younger players like (Mate) Dugandzic, who was quite outstanding from the start, Diogo Ferreira, young Petar Franjic in only his second game, (Matthew) Foschini came on were good,” Merrick said.
The win over Gold Coast means Victory completed a double over Queensland opposition in the space of a week following their midweek 3-0 win over North Queensland in Townsville.
Victory sits in fifth place with 40 points from 28 matches, virtually sealing their playoff berth, but Merrick says the club won’t take the foot off the pedal until they are entrenched in the finals.
“We’re not taking anything for granted, at the moment we’re not in the finals and it’s about being consistent against Newcastle,” he said.
In addition to Hernandez, Allsopp was sporting ice on his left thigh, while Brebner is another nursing an injury, but Merrick is confident the last two will be right for Wednesday’s match.
