Socceroos stalwart Mathew Leckie could make his first A-League appearance since October after being added to Melbourne City’s extended squad for Sunday’s clash against Wellington Phoenix.
Leckie has only made three A-League appearances this season, with ongoing hamstring and soft tissue problems having led to City deciding that the 35-year-old veteran needed hip surgery.
Having initially not been named for this weekend’s battle, Leckie showed enough at training on Saturday to warrant at least a spot in City’s 20-man extended squad, taking the place of attacker Ben Mazzeo.
On Friday, City coach Aurelio Vidmar said Leckie had to “feel confident within himself (and) within his body” that he could play on Sunday.
“He’s the only one who can feel how his body’s feeling,” Vidmar said.
“He looks fine on the training track, but it’s got to be Mat himself who says ‘I’m ready to go’.
“It’s been a long time since he played his last game. Generally, he’s one of those guys who doesn’t need a hell of a lot of training. He’s generally pretty fit anyway.
“Match rhythm is completely different, but he just always finds a way, finds an extra leg when he needs it, and that’s how he’s been for his entire career.”
Apart from Leckie, the other returning players named in City’s extended squad are key trio Patrick Beach, Ryan Teague and Marcus Younis.
Goalkeeper Beach has missed City’s past two matches with a quad injury, while midfielder Teague has been sidelined with a knee problem.
Attacking weapon Younis, who has been City’s best player since joining the club on loan in January from Danish outfit Brondby, is again available after serving a one-game suspension for being sent off in the reigning A-League champions’ 3-0 win over Western Sydney Wanderers.
City is chasing a third successive win on Sunday, with two victories in the past week having lifted Vidmar’s men into the top six.
However, should City lose to Wellington, the Phoenix – who have won three consecutive games – will jump into sixth spot at the Melbourne club’s expense.
Wellington coach Chris Greenacre said every game was a “final” for the Phoenix.
“Hopefully we can get the result that the performance deserves more than anything,” Greenacre said.
“(The players) are delivering that at the moment, so we have to keep doing that. It won’t just happen. We have to really work hard at doing that, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
