A-League: Marco Rojas out of Victory’s trip to Wanderers

Marco Rojas is out of Victory’s trip to Western Sydney.

Marco Rojas could miss Mebourne Victory’s next two games because of hamstring problems.

Melbourne Victory have been dealt a big blow ahead of their trip to Western Sydney tomorrow night, with star attacker Marco Rojas unable to make the trip.

And the man dubbed the ‘‘Kiwi Messi’’ is in a race against time to be fit for next weekend’s Melbourne derby after suffering hamstring tightness in Victory’s draw with Perth Glory last week.

Having provided the assist for Besart Berisha’s equaliser, Rojas appeared slightly troubled by a leg issue in the late stages of the match. Subsequent scans have revealed a small issue that will require a one to two week lay-off, making him touch and go for the December 17 derby at AAMI Park. No player has been involved — as either scorer (five) or with assists (five) — in more A-League goals this season than Rojas.

Rojas hasn’t trained with the main Victory group this week, having been restricted to light duties.

With Mitch Austin (ankle) also unable to take his place for the ANZ Stadium date, coach Kevin Muscat has three wide attacker options for the two positions. Fahid Ben Khalfallah looks a certainty to start on one wing, with young gun Jai Ingham and German loanee Max Beister competing for the other. Muscat has been singing Ingham’s praises after he enjoyed his best game of the season against the Wanderers in round six.

The 23-year-old ex-Hume City forward set up a goal and scored another in the 3-0 win, which was also Beister’s debut for Victory.

There’s no doubting Beister’s pedigree as an ex-Germany under-23 international but tomorrow night’s match might come too soon for his first start for Victory given his long lay-off with knee injuries.

At least Muscat has a full complement of defenders available to him, with Nick Ansell (knee) proving his fitness and Daniel Georgievski available for selection. Stefan Nigro has also been added to an extended squad for the match.

AAP