Melbourne City FC has started to pick up some winning form in the A-League Men with three victories in our past four games and will now look to continue building that momentum when the team faces Adelaide United at home on Tuesday night.
Our efforts to secure a third-consecutive victory could be aided by the return of multiple players to the matchday squad who didn’t travel with the team over the past week, in addition to a return to the touchline for Patrick Kisnorbo. The City Head Coach has been in self-isolation for the past week after testing positive to COVID-19 last Tuesday morning, and is expected to be available to return to Club duties against Adelaide.
Central defender Nuno Reis would be chief among the candidates to return to the matchday squad after missing City’s two away wins last week as he recovered from a minor knock sustained in training prior to the Newcastle game. Curtis Good and Rostyn Griffiths performed well in the Portuguese defender’s absence, so whether Reis is able to slot back into the starting XI after some much-needed rest and recuperation remains to be seen.
Tuesday night’s home game could loom as the perfect opportunity for City fans to be introduced to new signing Tsubasa Endoh, who didn’t travel with the squad for the team’s past two games in New South Wales and instead remained in Melbourne to build up his fitness.
Another who remained in Victoria was young defender Jordan Bos, who was rested following two consecutive starting appearances in the A-League Men competition. The 19-year-old left-back could be a beneficiary of any rotation within the squad to manage the team’s congested fixture schedule and has rewarded Kisnorbo’s faith with some impressive displays in his burgeoning senior career.
An interesting selection battle ahead of Tuesday’s game is Scott Galloway vs Carl Jenkinson at right-back, with the pair splitting the playing time with one start each in that position over the past week. That type of competition and squad depth will serve the team greatly as City endures a heavily-congested run of fixtures over the next month, in addition to Asian Champions League involvement later in the season.
