Van den Brink, Smeltz ruled out

A hamstring tear is set to sideline striker Smeltz out for at least a fortnight while centre-back van den Brink is nursing a minor calf strain picked up in last Sunday’s defeat at Central Coast Mariners. 

“We’re very disappointed that we won’t have Shane available to play,” said Ferguson. 

“Smeltzy always has goals in him and you’re always going to miss that top quality of player who can change a game in a heartbeat.

“But we’ve got plenty of cover there in Billy Mehmet and Travis Dodd and Steven McGarry can play up there as well. 

“With Bas, he unfortunately picked up a calf injury last week, he hasn’t recovered and we won’t take any chances with it. 

“If it was a cup final, we could probably throw him in there, but we won’t do that this week. 

“We’ve got a squad and we’ll use it to make sure that everybody gets some game time. 

“Steve Pantelidis will come straight in. 

“He’s the next choice centre-half and he’ll do a good job.”