Melbourne Victory boss Tony Popovic says his side has options to replace the suspended Josh Brillante against Brisbane Roar but that they won’t be able to fully replicate what their captain provides in the midfield.
Capping off a nightmarish 15-minute stretch that had already his side fall into a two-goal deficit against their bitter rivals, Brillante was sent off for yellow-card accumulation in the 35th minute of last week’s Melbourne Derby.
Not only did this effectively enable City to spend the next 65 minutes managing their way to a relatively comfortable derby win, but it also ruled the 29-year-old out of Victory’s trip to Queensland to take on the Roar on Saturday afternoon.
“We’ve got a few ideas,” Popovic said on how Victory would fill the hole in the midfield. “We won’t reveal what we’re doing but we’ve got a few ideas that we practised a bit yesterday and we’ll practice again today.
“We’ve got a few options there, we have to find an option.
“Every player has different attributes, so regardless of how you shape up on the pitch, whoever plays in that position will offer something different to Joshy, different strengths. We’ll make that work.
“He’s our captain. He’s our leader. He had a fantastic year last year so we know he gives us a lot of stability in there and a lot of running power getting forward; he makes late runs into the box.
“So we don’t have another replica of Josh Brillante. We’ve got other options with different attributes and we’ll have to adjust accordingly.”
Tipped as title contenders heading into 2022-23, Victory began their season strongly by spoiling Sydney FC’s return to the new Sydney Football Stadium but have hit a bit of a skid in subsequent weeks: falling to back-to-back losses against Western Sydney Wanderers and City.
Of course, it’s hardly time to hit the panic button yet. The last time Popovic’s side suffered two defeats on the bounce they promptly went on a 16-game undefeated streak in regular season play.
But to commence a similar sort of run this time around, Victory will first need to shut down Roar and their marquee man Charlie Austin, the latter of whom got off the mark in the ALM last when he netted in his side’s 1-1 draw with Wanderers.
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“Quality players are always a threat. [Austin] certainly has that and he showed that in his finish last week,” said the Victory boss.
“[His goal was] a very difficult ball that came across with a lot of power that bounced in front of him. That was a lot better finish than credit was probably given. That was a tough finish and that really shows the quality he has.
“[Roar] had a good performance [against WSW]. They’re obviously trying to find what works best for them. We know they have a lot of energy and a lot of players with good running power. Obviously in Brisbane, in those conditions, playing in the afternoon, we expect a lot of energy from them.”
Victory, however, will have to make do without the services of Matt Spiranovic after the defender, who has yet to feature this season, was ruled out for at least another week as he continues his rehab from a foot injury.
“We’re not forcing Matty back,” said Popovic. “We’ve never taken that approach to any of the players and we won’t with Matty in this case either.
“It’s more that we’re going week by week to see how he’s feeling, how he’s progressing. If Matty is ready next week he’s ready and if he’s not, and if that takes longer, then so be it but you won’t be forced to play regardless of the results.”
Indicating that Tomi Juric was continuing to build fitness after two months spent in limited training, Popovic also hosed down rumours that Victory has been in contact with disgruntled Perth Glory striker Bruno Fornaroli. The Uruguay-born Socceroo attacker set tongues wagging last week when responded to his own club’s Instagram post denying their claims that he was injured.
The 35-year-old was left out of Glory’s squad to take on Adelaide United on Sunday – although the official squads released by the league this season have already been proven to not be the most reliable indicators of actual availability.
“I’m not aware of those rumours,” said Popovic. “I’m not aware of [talks] but I think rumours will always exist and if you’re a big club, then you’ll always be linked, I guess, with big players. It’s just a rumour, I guess.
“From my point of view, yes, it’s just a rumour.’
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Header Image Credit: Melbourne Victory
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