Melbourne Heart FC Head Coach John van ‘t Schip is confident the Club can cover the absence of injured star playmaker Gerald Sibon.
Melbourne Heart FC Head Coach John van ‘t Schip is confident the Club can cover the absence of injured star playmaker Gerald Sibon.
Sibon is set to spend a stint on the sidelines after picking up an injury during the Melbourne Derby at AAMI Park on Saturday night.
The Dutchman starred during the first half of the Hyundai A-League blockbuster, setting the stadium alight with a stunning goal of the season contender, which saw Sibon curl a 25-yard free-kick around the wall and into the bottom right hand corner.
However, his participation ended at half time as van ‘t Schip was forced to withdraw Sibon and replace him with Kristian Sarkies.
Van ‘t Schip admitted Sibon-s injury is a blow, citing the former PSV and Ajax star-s ability to create something from nothing.
The Heart boss though has already identified a replacement for Sibon in the creative midfield position, earmarking Nick Kalmar for the role.
“At this moment, we need every player available and Gerald is a player who can do something special up front like today,” he said.
“If we miss him, we have to get in another player. I think Nick Kalmar is doing well in that position. If it stays like that, Nick will be the normal replacement.
“We’ve got John (Aloisi) up front, and he’s a different type of player. We’ve got Rutger (Worm), who is creative winger and Adrian (Zahra) on the other side.”
While Heart has been unable to claim a win in recent weeks, the side has been far from overwhelmed on field, constantly dominating opponents and creating significant goal scoring opportunities.
Van ‘t Schip believes Heart-s fortunes simply lie on being able to find a route through to goal.
“We’re playing good enough football. It’s only just a question of getting the ball over the line. It’s all very close, it’s just that it’s now been a few games in a row and that’s not a good thing for the confidence and the belief,” he said.
