Erick Mombaerts will mull over Melbourne City's range of attacking weapons as he prepares to compensate for the absence of Jamie Maclaren in Saturday evening's derby.
City's star Caltex Socceroos striker Maclaren is unavailable for the Hyundai A-League's opening-round blockbuster with Melbourne Victory following his three-goal salvo in Australia's 5-0 win over Nepal in Canberra on Thursday.
It is a situation Mombaerts, 64, is not thrilled with. However, the experienced Frenchman believes his side are suitably equipped to deal with the absence of the in-form Australian forward, as he hunts for a winning start to life in the Hyundai A-League.
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High on the list of potential replacements is Australian youth international Lachlan Wales, who played 26 matches for City last season and scored for the Olyroos against New Zealand in September.
Youth international teammate Connor Metcalfe, tipped by many to be the competition's breakout star in 2019/20, could also be brought into the forward line, while Moudi Najjar and Ramy Najjarine were also highlighted by the City coach.
But the real wildcard, Mombaerts said, could be to deploy Uruguayan import Adrian Luna as a false nine.
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"It's difficult to replace Jamie, but we have some solutions," Mombaerts said.
"Some players may have to take more responsibility to score. Craig Noone is one of them. I also expect Adrian Luna to help the team, and maybe Connor Metcalfe. I think in this situation we need other players to take more responsibility."
In addition, Mombaerts said that Maclaren's absence would make little difference to City's approach on the night.
Mombaerts arrived in Victoria in June charged with overhauling the club's identity, and the new attacking style he has lauded consistently throughout pre-season has already produced results on the pitch in the form of an FFA Cup 2019 Final against Adelaide United.
"We have trained and had a long pre-season to have a very good start," he said. "We cannot change our system, we need to be confident of this.
"We wanted to change the style and it takes more time to change this.
"It's more important to start well and be confident in our style, we are sure that if we play well, we will have a great chance to win."
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