Returning Olyroo Aziz Behich and midfielder Kristian Sarkies are the inclusions in Melbourne Heart FC’s extended 17-man squad for Saturday’s match against the Central Coast Mariners at Bluetongue Stadium.
Returning Olyroo Aziz Behich and midfielder Kristian Sarkies are the inclusions in Melbourne Heart FC-s extended 17-man squad for Saturday-s match against the Central Coast Mariners at Bluetongue Stadium.
After picking up his second yellow card of the London Olympics qualifying campaign, Behich will return to the Heart squad just in time for the clash in Gosford, providing Head Coach John van ‘t Schip with another option in defence.
However, van ‘t Schip is set to wait until Behich undergoes a medical assessment before determining whether he is ready to make an immediate return to the match day squad, having played in gruelling conditions in Qatar on Monday night.
Sarkies meanwhile continues to press his claims for selection with strong performances in training, providing van ‘t Schip with cause for deliberation.
The two-time Socceroo is yet to feature for the Red and White this season, with his appearances limited to outings for John Aloisi-s side in the National Youth League.
While Simon Colosimo has been named in the squad, he remains under an injury cloud after picking up a knock during training on Tuesday.
Van ‘t Schip though is set to provide Colosimo with every opportunity to prove his fitness ahead of the match, declaring he won-t make a decision on the 32-year-old-s availability until the last possible moment.
The match day squad will fly out of Melbourne tomorrow, and will return late on Sunday afternoon.
Melbourne Heart FC Squad v Central Coast Mariners
Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
Saturday 26 November
5.30pm kick-off
1.Clint BOLTON (gk), 2.Michael MARRONE, 3.Brendan HAMILL, 4.Simon COLOSIMO, 5.FRED (c), 6.Matt THOMPSON, 7.Rutger WORM, 8.Kristian SARKIES, 9.MAYCON, 10.Wayne SRHOJ, 13.Jonatan GERMANO, 15.David WILLIAMS, 16.Aziz BEHICH, 18.Curtis GOOD, 19.Eli BABALJ, 25.Adrian MADASCHI, 30.Sebastian MATTEI (gk) *two to be omitted*
In: Kristian SARKIES (promoted), Aziz BEHICH (returns from international duty)
Out: Nil
Unavailable: Nick Kalmar (Back – 4 weeks), Kliment Taseski (Foot – long term), Kamal Ibrahim (Ankle – 2 weeks), Alex Terra (Hamstring – 1-2 weeks), Jason Hoffman (international duty), Mate Dugandzic (international duty)
