City welcome high-powered reinforcement for Auckland elimination final
Seeking a first-ever win at Mt Smart, Socceroo trio Nathaniel Atkinson, Andrew Nabbout, and Mat Leckie could all start for Melbourne City in their do-or-die elimination final against Auckland FC.
Melbourne City’s hopes of securing what would be a first-ever away win over Auckland FC in their do-or-die elimination final this Saturday could be boosted by the return of Socceroo trio Nathaniel Atkinson, Andrew Nabbout, and Mat Leckie to their starting lineup.
Falling from third and a home final to sixth and a trip to New Zealand thanks to two late goals from Adelaide United’s Luka Jovanovic – the Reds’ win also moved them into second and pushed Auckland into third – City were without both Atkinson and Nabbout for that fixture, while Leckie was a second-half substitute.
Speaking from Auckland, however, City coach Aurelio Vidmar confirmed that Atkinson and Nabbout were “fine” and would be part of the considerations to start at Mt Smart Stadium, as would Leckie.
The winger-turned-holding midfielder has logged three appearances off the bench since returning from a lengthy layoff following groin surgery, slowly but surely increasing his minutes in each appearance.
JDL Media is committed to keeping its reporting on Australian football away from paywalls.
If you’re in a position to, please consider supporting this coverage at Ko-Fi.
And while Vidmar wouldn’t be drawn on whether the 78-time Socceroo would be in his XI at Mt Smart Stadium, he was of the view that he was capable of doing so if deemed necessary.
“He’s definitely going to have more minutes than he has in the last couple of weeks,” said the City coach.
“He’s feeling much better because he’s been able to increase his game time, and that was always the plan. Whether he starts is another question. He’s looking quite well in training this week.
“We flew yesterday, and we’ll have a training session throughout the stadium, and then we’ll have a look.”
Teague, for his part, has travelled with the squad to Auckland but was described as being further back than his fellow returnees by Vidmar.
After starting all 13 of his appearances across the A-League Men and Asian Champions League Elite after landing on loan from Belgian outfit KV Mechelen, the midfielder hasn’t featured since coming off at halftime of City’s win over Western Sydney back on April 4.
“Teaguey hasn’t played for four weeks,” said Vidmar. “That’s a fair chunk of football to miss.”
After being forced off in the loss to the Reds, veteran defender Samuel Souprayen has dodged a suspected MCL injury, but with Vidmar admitting the 37-year-old wasn’t able to walk properly until Friday, he wasn’t in contention to face the Kiwis.
Daniel Arzani, however, was much closer; the mercurial attacker overruled by medical staff over his availability, with it almost certain he’ll come back into the squad if City progresses to a semifinal against the Newcastle Jets next week.
“Daniel was pretty keen,” Vidmar said. “The medical advice suggested it’s probably, probably a week too soon, so if we get the right result then, obviously, there’s a different discussion next week.”
Though facing significant flight delays in getting into Auckland, as well as being forced to split their travelling party into two groups, City travelled a day early for Saturday’s fixture – in part to switch things up after suffering 3-0 defeats to Steve Corica’s side in their previous two trips to the City of Sails.
JDL Media is committed to keeping its reporting on Australian football away from paywalls.
If you’re in a position to, please consider supporting this coverage at Ko-Fi.
Like attacker Andreas Kuen earlier in the week, Vidmar was keen to observe that City had moments in both those fixtures that could have swung the contest, but, even with an injury cloud over co-Golden Boot winner Sam Cosgrove and Auckland without a win since mid-March, acknowledged the task awaiting his side.
“There’s still an experienced side,” Vidmar said. “They’re well coached. Obviously, they’re a lot more consistent last year. This year, they’ve had a few hiccups, absolutely, but I think every team has. Then it’s about, you know, bringing it all together on the very important day -- that’s tomorrow.
“For us, for example, we were disappointed that we lost [to Adelaide] last week, but the focus changes very, very quickly. It’s a lot sharper, there’s more concentration [in finals]. Sometimes you can have a nice run and sort of, not intentionally pull the handbrake up, but think that everything’s just going to fall your way.
“But when it doesn’t fall your way, you’ve got to roll up your sleeves. You’ve got to continue working, you’ve got to keep grinding. That’s all part of it.
“In this game, we know for sure we have to be fully concentrated for 100 minutes. They’ll keep coming at us. We’ll try to do the same, keep putting them under pressure as much as we can, and the best team will win.”
Header Image: Melbourne City