A quick turnaround between Melbourne City FC’s Tuesday night victory over Newcastle Jets and their upcoming Friday night clash with Western Sydney Wanderers will see fans and players awaiting team selection news with eager anticipation.
The feel-good story of Tuesday night’s victory was the successful return to competitive action of Curtis Good, whose fitness will again be at the forefront of discussions ahead of the Wanderers clash as the defender continues his recovery from a more severe bout of COVID-19. The central defender made a strong return against the Jets, seeing 70 minutes of action before being replaced by recent signing Carl Jenkinson.
It was a case of one in, one out for the back four on Tuesday, with Good’s return offset by a fresh injury concern for Nuno Reis, who missed the clash due to a slight knock sustained in training in preparation for that fixture.
With just a three-day turnaround between matches, the game off for Reis may not have been enough for a full return to fitness, but the Portuguese defender has trained with the squad in Sydney and will be certainly pushing hard for a return to the starting XI.
As the fixtures start to come thick and fast for City, utilising the full depth of our senior squad will be vital for our sustained success across this period, opening up the possibility of rotation.
The depth in City squad will see plenty of options for City’s coaching staff, who will again be without Head Coach Patrick Kisnorbo for Friday night’s fixture.
Marco Tilio returned from Socceroos duty via the bench on Tuesday, seeing 20 minutes of action and presents as a strong contender to return to the line-up.
Stefan Colakovski saw a brief stint on the pitch late in the fixture while Manuel Pucciarelli remained an unused substitute but both will no doubt be ready to go if called upon on Friday night.
