John van’t Schip has named a relatively unchanged line up for Friday night’s clash with Perth Glory at AAMI Park.
The preliminary squad that was named for the Melbourne Derby remains the same with the return of Thomas Sorensen to the squad in replace of National Youth League goalkeeper Yaren Sozer.
Whether Sorensen returns to the eleven is the big question this week after the impressive performance of Dean Bouzanis over the past fortnight. van’t Schip spoke to the media on Thursday about the compounding selection dilemmas from positive performances but said he will decide on his first choice ‘keeper after the final training session.
Doubt also surrounds what role Nicolas Colazo will play on Friday as well. The Argentinian’s impressive start to the season has pleased the Head Coach and the City faithful however a knock to his ear in Round 1 has progressed over the past two weeks with the medical team keeping a close eye on his condition.
Colazo was referred to an ENT specialist to assess his ear. He has undergone testing and the club are waiting on the advice of the specialist.
Defender Ruon Tongyik rounds out the 18-man squad that will be cut down by two 90 minutes before kick-off.
City take on Perth this Friday night at AAMI Park in our first home match of the 2016/17 season. Kick-off is 7.50pm with City looking to continue their best start to the season against the unbeaten Glory side.
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Melbourne City FC Squad: 1. Thomas Sorensen (GK), 2. Manny Muscat, 3. Josh Rose, 4. Connor Chapman, 6. Osama Malik, 8. Neil Kilkenny, 9. Nicolas Colazo, 10. Anthony Caceres, 11. Bruce Kamau, 12. Nick Fitzgerald, 17. Tim Cahill, 18. Paulo Retre, 20. Dean Bouzanis (GK), 21. Ruon Tongyik, 22. Michael Jakobsen, 23. Bruno Fornaroli, 26. Luke Brattan, 27. Fernando Brandan ***two to be omitted***
Ins: 1. Thomas Sorensen (reruns from suspension) 21. Ruon Tongyik (promoted)
Outs: 40. Yaren Sozer (GK) (omitted)
Unavailable: 7. Corey Gameiro (ACL – season), 28. Steve Kuzmanovski (international duty)
