Reinforcements coming
The Wellington Phoenix should know by midweek the severity of the injuries to Dario Vidosic and Marco Rossi.
The duo both left the field prematurely in the 1-0 loss to Perth Glory on Sunday morning (NZ time), with Vidosic of most concern.
The 30-year-old had arthroscopic surgery in the off-season to repair a small lateral meniscus tear in his right knee, and it was that knee which twisted badly under a challenge from Shane Lowry in the sixth minute.
Vidosic limped on for another eight minutes before he was replaced, with coach Darije Kalezic saying immediately after the game he hoped it would not be too serious.
‘‘It is difficult to say in this moment. I believe that it’s not very bad, but everything I say in this moment is not 100 per cent.
‘‘I have a feeling it’s not so bad, but obviously not good enough to play further [in this match].’’
The team flew back from Perth on Sunday, with Vidosic in line for a full assessment by Tuesday.
The Phoenix will be likely to take a cautious approach to giving out any injury information given they incorrectly ruled out Andrew Durante for 8-12 weeks when he suffered a groin injury earlier this season. He was back three weeks later.
Rossi’s calf injury did not look too serious when he made way for Hamish Watson with seven minutes to go. It appeared to be both a safety-first approach given he struggled with a calf injury during pre-season and the first few rounds, as well as a tactical switch to bring on another striker to chase the game.
Kalezic said he was happy with the way his players battled on after Vidosic’s injury, but said they lost a lot of creativity in the final third because of it.
‘‘To be honest, with Dario we lose exceptional quality in the team. Everybody knows with [Michael] Mcglinchey and Roy Krishna they are the players who give the attacking impulse in our team.’’