Asian Cup final: Trent Sainsbury ready to fill in for injured Socceroos defender Ivan Franjic

SOCCEROOS centreback Trent Sainsbury says he’s ready to step in for the injured Ivan Franjic should he fail to recover in time for Saturday’s final.

Australia's Ivan Franjic walks off injured at the end on the game during the Asian Cup Semi Final between Australia and UAE at Hunter Stadium , Newcastle .Picture Gregg Porteous

SOCCEROOS boss Ange Postecoglou will be forced to disrupt his midfield or his defence if right back Ivan Franjic comes up short in the race to be fit for Saturday’s Asian Cup final.

The Socceroos staff claimed Franjic’s injury was a ‘jarred hip’, but he was clearly seen clutching his left groin in the 83rd minute of Tuesday’s night’s semifinal win over UAE.

Coach Ange Postecoglou had made his third sub just a minute earlier, when James Troisi replaced Robbie Kruse, forcing Franjic to play out the game.

He played the next seven minutes at right-back before he was moved forward, but could only jog and, appearing to be scared of aggravating it, even passed the ball to space at one stage to merely get rid of it after receiving it from Mile Jedinak.

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Massimo Luongo helps an injured Franjic off the pitch.

Franjic spoke after Tuesday night’s semifinal victory and remained optimistic about his chances.

“It was pretty sore at the time but it’s nothing major,” Franjic said.

“We’ve got great medical staff and I’m sure I’ll be fine for Saturday. Because it was towards the end of the game we just took a few precautions, I went right wing and I was able to finish the game off.

“It was never bad enough to contemplate coming off, I was happy to push through and I’m sure it’ll be good for Saturday. It would be devastating of course if I had to miss it, but I’m confident I’ll be out there. I just can’t wait for Saturday, it’s going to be a great encounter.”

But on Wednesday his prospects were seen more cautiously within the Socceroos camp.

With no specialist cover in the squad after Chris Herd’s withdrawal, also through injury, midfielder Mark Milligan or defender Trent Sainsbury are the prime contingency options.

Milligan was to be asked to replace the injured Franjic against Holland in the World Cup until he strained a quad muscle in training for the role, while Sainsbury made his debut for the Mariners at right back but has played primarily as a centreback since 2011.

Goalscorer Sainsbury’s quarter and semi-final performances have been outstanding in central defence, but he said he would be ready if deployed.

“If Timmy’s injured and they chuck me up front or put me in goal, I’ll go for it, I don’t mind, I’ll play wherever the gaffer wants to put me,’’ Sainsbury said.

“The last time I played there was about a year ago in a pre-season friendly.

“I’m comfortable in the role. I’m a defender first and an attacker second so it doesn’t bother me.

“We’ve got a lot of depth in the squad, Millsy can play there.’’

With Herd dropping out Franjic has had to start every game, which was reward he said for the efforts beforehand.

“I’m holding up good, I’m getting fitter and fitter with every game,” he said. “Looking at my results with the conditioning coach I can see I’m getting stronger every game with my running so it’s going well.

“Before the Asian Cup the conditioning guys gave me a programme to follow back in Melbourne and I followed it to the letter every day, doing a lot of sprinting and long distance running.

“Then we had 12 days in camp and it got me up to great condition to be able to play every game here, they’ve managed me well.”

Originally published as Asian Cup final: Trent Sainsbury ready to fill in for injured Socceroos defender Ivan Franjic