HIGH HOPES
Victory may pick Tassie teen to take on the champions
A TEENAGE attacking midfielder from Tasmania could be Melbourne Victory’s selection bolter for its grand final rematch against Sydney FC on Saturday night.
Coach Kevin Muscat will be forced to shuffle the decks for the Round 1 encounter at Etihad Stadium, with Mark Milligan, James Troisi and Kosta Barbarouses on international duty.
Milligan’s boots can be filled by Argentine Matias Sanchez and one of Jai Ingham or Mitch Austin will take Barbarouses’s spot on the wing.
But the attacking midfield void left by Troisi is harder to fill. And that is where 19-year-old Josh Hope comes in.
Dutch attacker Leroy George, who only arrived in mid-September, is still building his fitness, but is an option to fill the No.10 role despite being recruited as a winger.
Sanchez could also shift further forward, with Leigh Broxham then partnering Carl Valeri in the centre and Stefan Nigro deployed at left-back.
But Hope, who signed his first senior contract last month, has been used as a playmaker during the preseason and Muscat confirmed the one-time Victory youth star was a chance to debut.
“Structurally we’ll have to look at a few things,” Muscat said.
“But Josh, even though he’s quite young, he’s played quite a bit there throughout pre-season.
“He’s going well, so he is an option. We’ll have a good look at things over the next few days and go from there.
“All the young boys are going well, now they’re going to have to take that opportunity.
“The way it’s designed, with no international breaks and with Asian Champions League, they’ll need to stand up. And I have faith they will.”
Muscat confirmed Victory’s squad, despite having one visa spot still available, was complete — for now.
“You never know what is going to happen, you might have someone knocking at your door for one of your players let alone going the other way,” he said.
“But we will have an opportunity if things arise in January.”
The coach also suggested Broxham was “more than likely” to fill the left-back position.
“But there’s a couple of younger boys in Stefan Nigro and Thomas Deng who have shown signs that they’re capable also, so it’s not a given, especially in Champions League period where a lot of work gets done in that area of the park,” Muscat said.