North Queensland Fury have suffered a setback ahead of their clash with Gold Coast United on Friday night with striker David Williams ruled out with a knee injury.
The club-s leading goalscorer had scans that revealed a partial tear of the patella tendon in his right knee.
The unexpected turn of events came as the club heads to the Gold Coast looking for their first win in six games and coming off a 1-0 loss to the Newcastle Jets in their rescheduled match on Tuesday.
Fury defender Simon Storey, who is only just returning from nearly a month on the sideline himself, said Williams was a big loss and his absence would make their quest to find the back of the net even harder.
“Willo is our top goalscorer and most threatening player; we need other boys to step up,” he said.
“We seem to lack the final pass and a bit of creativity in the final third of the pitch.”
North Queensland are also still without Captain Ufuk Talay who will remain on the sideline for a few more weeks.
As North Queensland continues their rotational system, Fury assistant coach Stuart McLaren said local Lorenzo Sipi, who flew out to the Gold Coast yesterday, could get his chance against Gold Coast United.
“He will get his chance whether that’s against Gold Coast or at our next home game against the Melbourne Victory,” McLaren said.
The decision surrounding who will be goalkeeping against Gold Coast has been made difficult after youngster Sebastian Usai put in a solid performance against the Jets on Tuesday, only conceding one goal and making a number of great saves.
Gold Coast are coming off a shock 2-0 loss against Sydney FC and will be looking to get a result to continue to pressure the Central Coast Mariners for a top-three finish.
