Perth glory midfielder Victor Sikora remains in contention to play this Sunday against Newcastle at ME Bank Stadium despite suffering a corked thigh against Wellington which forced him from the ground in the opening half.
Perth glory midfielder Victor Sikora remains in contention to play this Sunday against Newcastle at ME Bank Stadium despite suffering a corked thigh against Wellington which forced him from the ground in the opening half.
Sikora was felled by an ugly tackle from Wellington midfielder Michael Ferrante, which drew a yellow card from referee Peter O-Leary, in the opening minutes of the clash against the Phoenix.
The Dutch flyer responded in the best possible way when he stole the ball a few moments later after a poor first touch from Ferrante and slotted it into the back of the net to open the scoring for Perth.
Sikora continued to battle through the pain of a corked thigh for the opening half hour but was forced from the field to watch the remainder of the game from the sidelines.
“It was a crude tackle early that left Victor struggling and that was unfortunate because he was looking good,” Mitchell said.
“He is certainly a player that never wants to come off and he tried to play through it but in the end that wasn’t good for him or the team.”
Perth Glory medical staff have given Sikora the green light to resume training on Wednesday and are confident he-ll be fit for Sunday-s match.
Meanwhile Socceroos defender Chris Coyne also looks to resume after being an early substitute in New Zealand after being hit with a stomach virus.
“Chris did the warm up and wanted to play however as soon as the game got underway he felt really sick and it caught both of us by surprise,” Mitchell said.
“He called out that he needed to come off because he didn’t want to let the team down by not being at his best.
“We’re confident that both of the boys will be okay for next week’s match.”
Perth plays their first home match of the season against the Jets on Sunday following two narrow losses on the road. Kick-off is 3.00pm at ME Bank Stadium.
