Melbourne Heart FC marquee man Orlando Engelaar may make his first appearance after his long road to recover in Sunday’s Foxtel National Youth League Melbourne Derby.
Melbourne Heart FC marquee man Orlando Engelaar may make his first appearance after his long road to recovery in Sunday’s Foxtel National Youth League Melbourne Derby.
Engelaar, who fractured his tibia in a pre-season friendly against Brisbane Roar in August, has spent the past four months in rehabilitation, but has made excellent progress and his potential return has come earlier than expected.
Melbourne Heart FC Head Coach John van’t Schip suggested on Thursday that Engelaar could feature in the Youth team’s showdown against Melbourne Victory on Sunday afternoon at Epping Stadium after showing good signs since returning to training in January.
“Orlando is scheduled to play a part of the game and if that goes well, maybe he can be involved in a role for the next game with the first team,” van’t Schip said.
“It depends of course on how he plays and what happens after that and how he recovers.
“But he’s looking good and he’s trained very hard and very well, so hopefully he can have a good week next week.”
Melbourne Heart will look to make it back-to-back wins in the Youth League after a 2-0 win over the Central Coast Mariners last weekend.
Match Details
Sunday, 12 January 2014
Foxtel National Youth League 2013-14
Melbourne Heart FC vs. Melbourne Victory
Epping Soccer Stadium
Kick-Off: 3pm
