Defender Simon Colosimo has been ruled out of Sunday’s match against the Wellington Phoenix in Morwell after failing to recover from a knee injury.
Defender Simon Colosimo has been ruled out of Sunday-s match against the Wellington Phoenix in Morwell after failing to recover from a knee injury.
Colosimo sustained a knock to his knee during training last week, forcing him to miss the Club-s trip to Gosford over the weekend.
While it was initially anticipated Colosimo would be available for Heart-s encounter with the Phoenix, the former Socceroo has been unable to overcome his injury, forcing him to the sidelines for another week.
Colosimo-s absence has been tempered by the return of Mate Dugandzic and Jason Hoffman, with the attacking duo returning from international duty after featuring for the Olyroos against Iraq and Uzbekistan.
Fellow Green and Gold regular Aziz Behich is poised to regain his position in the starting eleven meanwhile, having been forced to the bench after playing 90 minutes under oppressive conditions in Qatar.
Brazilian Alex Terra meanwhile is another in contention for a first team return, with the attacker making a swift recovery from a hamstring strain.
The former Fluminense star has trained strongly this week, ensuring Head Coach John van ‘t Schip has a full complement of attacking players at his disposal as Terra joins David Williams, Maycon and Eli Babalj in addition to the Olyroo duo of Dugandzic and Hoffman as forward options.
Midfielder Wayne Srhoj is the only omission from last week-s squad, receiving a one-match by the independent Match Review Panel when challenging for the ball with the Central Coast Mariners Rostyn Griffiths.
Melbourne Heart FC Squad v Wellington Phoenix
Sunday 4 December
Latrobe City Stadium
Crinigan Road, Morwell
Kick-off 3pm
1.Clint Bolton (gk), 2.Michael Marrone, 3.Brendan Hamill, 5.Fred, 6.Matt Thompson, 7.Rutger Worm, 8.Kristian Sarkies, 9.Maycon, 11.Alex Terra, 13.Jonatan Germano, 15.David Williams, 16.Aziz Behich, 17.Jason Hoffman, 18.Curtis Good, 19.Eli Babalj, 23.Mate Dugandzic, 25.Adrian Madaschi, 30.Sebastian Mattei (gk)
In: Mate Dugandzic (returns from international duty), Jason Hoffman (returns from international duty), Alex Terra (returns from injury)
Out: Wayne Srhoj (suspended)
Unavailable: Nick Kalmar (back – four weeks), Kliment Taseski (fractured foot – long term), Kamal Ibrahim (ankle – two weeks), Wayne Srhoj (suspension – 1 week)
