Melbourne Victory star James Troisi will be forced to watch Friday night's Elimination Final against Wellington Phoenix from the stands after failing to recover from a hamstring injury in time for the clash at AAMI Park (kick-off 7.50pm).
Troisi, who strained his hamstring in the Round 26 loss to Adelaide United, did all he could to make the squad but coach Kevin Muscat has decided to play it safe with his classy playmaker.
While Troisi misses out, Phoenix have two vital players returning with skipper Andrew Durante and midfielder Alex Rufer both recalled to the squad.
FINALS SERIES BLOG: All the latest ahead of the Elimination Finals
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Wellington boss Mark Rudan opted to rest the pair from the Round 27 clash against Perth Glory as they were both one yellow card away from a suspension.
Meanwhile, Melbourne City welcome back the likes of Ritchie De Laet, Harrison Delbridge, Eugene Galekovic, Jamie Maclaren, Curtis Good and Florin Berenguer for Sunday's clash with Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium (kick-off 7pm).
Read on for all the important team news.
Friday, 3 May 2019
Melbourne Victory v Wellington Phoenix
Melbourne Victory squad: 1.Matthew ACTON (gk), 2.Storm ROUX, 3.Corey BROWN, 4.Keisuke HONDA, 5.Georg NIEDERMEIER, 6.Leigh BROXHAM, 7.Kenny ATHIU, 8.Terry ANTONIS, 9.Kosta BARBAROUSES, 11.Ola TOIVONEN, 14.Thomas DENG, 15.Raul BAENA, 16.Joshua HOPE, 17.James DONACHIE, 19.Rahmat AKBARI, 20.Lawrence THOMAS (gk), 21.Carl VALERI, 24. Elvis KAMSOBA **two to be omitted**
Ins: 3.Corey BROWN (promoted), 16.Joshua HOPE (promoted) 19.Rahmat AKBARI (promoted)
Outs: 10.James TROISI (hamstring)
Unavailable: Nil
Wellington Phoenix Squad: 1.Filip KURTO (gk), 4.Mandi SOSA, 5.Ryan LOWRY, 7.Cillian SHERIDAN, 11.David WILLIAMS, 12.Antony GOLEC, 13.Liberato CACACE, 14.Alex RUFER, 15.Michal KOPZCYNSKI, 17.Callan ELLIOT, 18.Sarpreet SINGH, 20.Oliver SAIL (gk), 21. Roy KRISHNA, 22.Andrew DURANTE (c), 23.Max BURGESS, 27.Steven TAYLOR, 31. Ben WAINE, 32. Gianni STENSNESS **two to be omitted**
Ins: 14. Alex RUFER (promoted), 22. Andrew DURANTE (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 16. Louis FENTON (foot injury - season)
Hyundai A-League 2019 Elimination Final 1
Melbourne Victory (3) v Wellington Phoenix (6)
AAMI Park, Melbourne
Friday, 3 May 2019
Kick-Off: 7:50pm (AEST)
Referee: Shaun Evans
Assistant Referee 1: Ryan Gallagher
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Ilievski
Fourth Official: Jonathan Barreiro
VAR: Kris Griffiths-Jones
PREVIEW: Melbourne Victory v Wellington Phoenix Elimination Final
DURANTE: 'We want to be the most successful Wellington Phoenix team of all time'
NAB NOMINEE: Melbourne Victory defender Thomas Deng
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 7.00pm (AEDT), 10 Bold from 7:30pm (AEST), Sky Sport 3 (New Zealand) and MyFootball Live App, Live Fast and Data Free for Telstra mobile customers
Radio Broadcast: myfootballnation.com (SEN+, SRN & Macquarie Sports Radio (streamed at sportsradio.com.au)). ABC News on Radio, Grandstand Digital, Online & via the ABC Listen App – A-League Live.
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash tag #MVCvWEL #FeelTheFinals
To purchase tickets visit www.a-league.com.au/tickets
Sunday, 5 May 2019
Adelaide United v Melbourne City
Adelaide United Squad: 1.Daniel MARGUŠ (gk), 2.Michael MARRONE, 3.Scott GALLOWAY, 6.Vince LIA, 7.Ryan KITTO, 8.Isaías SÁNCHEZ (c), 9.Baba DIAWARA, 11.Craig GOODWIN, 14.George BLACKWOOD, 16.Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS, 17.Nikola MILEUSNIĆ, 20.Paul IZZO (gk), 22.Michael JAKOBSEN, 23.Jordan ELSEY, 26.Ben HALLORAN, 31.Mirko BOLAND, 32.Carlo ARMIENTO, 33.Apostolos STAMATELOPOULOS **two to be omitted**
Ins: 16.Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS (promoted), 32.Carlo ARMIENTO (promoted)
Outs: nil
Unavailable: 10.Ken ILSØ (suspended)
Melbourne City FC squad: 1.Mark BIRIGHITTI, 2.Ritchie DE LAET, 3.Scott JAMIESON, 4.Harrison DELBRIDGE, 5.Bart SCHENKEVELD, 8.Riley McGREE, 9.Shayon HARRISON, 10.Dario VIDOSIC, 13.Nathaniel ATKINSON, 15.Kearyn BACCUS, 18.Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk), 19.Lachlan WALES, 21.Ramy NAJJARINE, 22.Curtis GOOD, 25.Iacopo LA ROCCA, 26.Luke BRATTAN, 27.Florin BERENGUER-BOHRER, 29.Jamie MACLAREN **two to be omitted**
Ins: 1.Mark BIRIGHITTI (returns from injury), 2.Ritchie DE LAET (promoted), 4.Harrison DELBRIDGE (promoted), 18.Eugene GALEKOVIC (promoted) 22.Curtis GOOD (promoted), 27.Florin BERENGUER-BOHRER (promoted), 29.Jamie MACLAREN (returns from injury)
Outs: 34.Connor METCALFE (omitted), 40.Majak MAWITH (omitted), 41.Mitchell GRAHAM (omitted), 42.James DELIANOV (omitted), 51.Idrus ABDULAHI (omitted)
Unavailable: 30.Moudi NAJJAR (ankle)
Hyundai A-League 2019 Elimination Final 2
Adelaide United (4) v Melbourne City FC (5)
Coopers Stadium, Adelaide
Sunday, 5 May 2019
Kick-Off: 6:30pm (ACST) (7:00pm AEST)
Referee: Kurt Ams
Assistant Referee 1: Paul Cetrangolo
Assistant Referee 2: Nathan MacDonald
Fourth Official: Daniel Elder
VAR: Kris Griffiths-Jones
ELIMINATION FINAL PREVIEW: Adelaide United v Melbourne City
CAPTAIN'S CORNER: Isaias anticipating 'electric atmosphere'
NAB NOMINEE: Melbourne City young gun Lachlan Wales
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 6.00pm (AEST), 10 Bold from 6:30pm (AEST), Sky Sport 4 (New Zealand) and MyFootball Live App, Live Fast and Data Free for Telstra mobile customers
Radio Broadcast: myfootballnation.com (SEN+, 5AA (2nd Half) Macquarie Sports Radio (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane & Perth DAB +)). ABC News on Radio, Grandstand Digital, Online & via the ABC Listen App – A-League Live.
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash tag #ADLvMCY #FeelTheFinals
To purchase tickets visit www.a-league.com.au/tickets
