Fred returns for Victory

Melbourne Victory’s Brazilian import, Fred, is set to make an immediate return to the starting line-up for Friday night’s clash against Queensland Roar in the Hyundai A-League Pre-Season Cup.

Having missed last week’s match with a corked thigh, Fred has recovered sufficiently to regain a place in the Victory squad for tomorrow night’s match at Epping Stadium.

Also returning to the squad is new signing Adrian Caceres after recovering from a calf strain which kept him out of Melbourne’s 3-2 win against Newcastle last weekend.

Making way for the duo are Claudinho and Steve Pantelidis.

The Victory squad will also be boosted with the inclusion of Qantas Socceroos quartet Kevin Muscat, Archie Thompson, Kristian Sarkies and Adrian Leijer. All four are in the training squad for the Socceroos Asian Cup Qualifier against Kuwait next Wednesday in Sydney, but have been cleared to play for their club tomorrow.

The match has been shifted to the Epping Stadium after concerns were raised about the state of the Olympic Park pitch.

Victory coach, Ernie Merrick, revealed that the switch was more of a precaution than anything else.

“We played on the ground against the Central Coast Mariners and decided that it would be best to give it a bit of a rest after a heavy rugby league season,” Merrick said.

“We really want to preserve the pitch to allow us to put on the best possible performance for the fans in our first home game of the season on August 25th against Adelaide United.”

Merrick was also quick to highlight the importance of Friday night’s match against Queensland, despite neither team qualifying for the semi-final stage of the tournament.

“Every game at this stage of the season is important. Every coach is trying to finalise their squad before the start of the Hyundai A-League, and all the players are fighting for starting positions. It’s a highly competitive environment, and I’d expect that to translate to the pitch tomorrow night.

“Of course we’re disappointed not to qualify for the semi-finals, but our win over Newcastle last week shows that we’re definitely on the right track. We’re scoring goals and we actually finished higher than Newcastle who qualified for the finals. As the team continues to play together that can only improve further.”

Melbourne Victory squad: Michael Theoklitos, Kevin Muscat, Daniel Piorkowski, Fred, Daniel Allsopp, Archie Thompson, Vince Lia, Rodrigo Vargas, Kristian Sarkies, Adrian Caceres, Adrian Leijer, Simon Storey, Grant Brebner, Alessandro, Eugene Galekovic.

Match Details

Melbourne Victory vs Queensland Roar
Epping Stadium, Harvest Home Road, Epping (Melways ref: 182 C4)
Friday night, August 11
Kick-Off: 7:30pm (local/Vic time)

Tickets are available at the gate, which open at 6:00pm. Adult admission is $10, concession $5 and children under 13 will be admitted free.

Car Parking is strictly limited at the Epping Soccer Stadium Car Park. Harvest Home Road is a no standing area; cars parked on Harvest Home Road will be fined. Alternatively, limited parking is available surrounding the Epping Train Station.

Melbourne Victory encourages supporters to use public transport and the club has arranged a shuttle bus that will transport supporters from the Epping Train Station to the Epping Soccer Stadium and return.

Live match updates will be available on melbournevictory.com.au from 7:30pm.