Melbourne City are desperate for Portuguese signing Nuno Reis to get out of quarantine in Melbourne and up to the Hunter Valley in time to shore up the club’s leaky defence against Newcastle on Sunday.
But while City face a defensive crisis, crosstown rivals Melbourne Victory have received a boost with the return to action of former Premier League winger Callum McManaman.
Patrick Kisnorbo is hoping for a defensive reinforcement to arrive by Sunday.Credit: Getty Images
“We will take a little more caution with him with a game coming up next week.″
Reis, a centre-back and defensive midfielder, has spent time quarantining in Perth and latterly Melbourne.
“Nuno is in Melbourne, we are trying to get him here ASAP,” said City coach Patrick Kisnorbo. “There was a bit of a rule with the government but we are doing everything we can to get him out.”
Kisnorbo was speaking after watching his team lose for the third time in their last four games, most recently 3-2 to Central Coast despiteholding a 2-0 lead after half an hour.
The coach is desperate for reinforcements. Makeshift centre-half Rostyn Griffiths is still unavailable, while young replacement Kerrin Stokes was sent off after an hour in Gosford and another defender, Scott Galloway, hurt his hamstring and limped off before half-time.
On Stokes’ sending-off for a foul on Alou Kuol, which earned him a second yellow card, Kisnorbo said: “it was a poor decision”. That was City’s third red card in five matches this season.
He did not try to disguise his team’s shortcomings.
“We conceded a goal from our goal kick. A lapse of concentration, I don’t think we won the ball once on the way to the net, the desire to win that ball wasn’t there.
“We gave away a silly penalty from a high ball in the box. Again, that’s a decision-making process. Then a loose ball in our critical area and a shot that goes in from Danny De Silva.
“Silly things are costing us at the moment. Last week two set pieces. This week another red card and a penalty.
“Our decisions are not great at the moment to be honest with you ... we are creating our own problems instead of teams creating against us.”
Former FA Cup winner McManaman has missed Victory’s last two matches with an ankle injury but he will be in the squad for the club’s trip to Brisbane to face the Roar on Saturday night, Victory coach Grant Brebner said on Thursday.
“Callum will travel. We will have ongoing discussions about how long he will last. He will either start or feature.”
Brebner said that star Socceroos forward Robbie Kruse would also be back in contention after missing last weekend’s goalless draw with Western United, but French striker Rudy Gestede would not be risked yet.