Mariners recruit McCormack heads back to England

Central Coast star recruit Ross McCormack is returning to England to have an injured knee assessed after just five games.

Mariners recruit Ross McCormack is headed back to England

It’s rapidly becoming an A-League season to forget for the Central Coast with star recruit Ross McCormack returning to England to have his injured knee assessed after just five appearances.

The on-loan Scotsman is making a hit-and-run visit to his parent club Aston Villa so that the English Championship side’s specialist can look at the knee and decide on a course of action.

McCormack has missed the past two games for the Mariners after failing to complete a training session on the eve of the match against Sydney FC on December 1.

The striker was seen as one of the best signings of the season when he joined the Gosford-based club. He scored 14 goals in 17 games during a loan period with Melbourne City last season but he could not crack it for Villa on his return and was subsequently loaned out again.

Central Coast opened the season with successive draws with McCormack scoring against his old club in round two but it has been all downhill since.

McCormack’s absence will leave a gaping hole in the Mariners attack, especially with another recruit, Corey Gameiro, still sidelined with injury and having yet to turn out for the club. Captain Matt Simon will have to carry the brunt of the attack.

The issue could not have come at a worse time for the club, which is sitting bottom of the table and has yet to win in the opening seven games of the season. His injury comes on top of the absence of former Socceroo Tommy Oar — another off-season signing. Oar has been sidelined by injury for several weeks.

Mariners coach Mike Mulvey is trying to make the best of the situation.

“We’ve decided to send Ross back to Aston Villa to check in with a specialist,” Mulvey said yesterday.

“We expect him back just before Christmas and the best situation we can see at this stage would be having Ross eligible for selection for our New Year’s Eve game against Perth Glory.”

Mulvey hopes to have Oar back in two weeks.

“Tommy won’t be eligible for selection against Wellington this weekend, but he’s back running, which is great news,” he added. “We hope to have him back for our game against the Newcastle Jets at home (December 23).”

Amid all the gloom, there is some upside with Jonathan Aspropotamitis close to a call-up to the main squad after making a successful return to football last week.

An off-season signing from Western Sydney, the talented defender had been sidelined for 10 months after rupturing his ACL playing for the Wanderers in the National Youth Final in late January. He underwent a knee reconstruction in early February.

Aspropotamitis played in a youth match last Sunday and came through unscathed before being substituted.

He won’t be rushed and is likely to have another run with the youth team before joining the senior squad where he will be a huge boost to their defensive stocks.

The young defender says he is taking things gradually.

“Getting 90 minutes under my belt is the next landmark, but whether that is in the A-League or the youth league, we will have to wait and see,” he said.

“It will be up to the coaching staff. I’m just really keen to get 90 minutes in and see where we go from there.”