Wellington Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert is looking to make the most of attacking midfielder Alex Smith's versatility in Saturday's A-League clash with Adelaide United.
Herbert has been left to count the cost of his team's battling 1-1 draw with Brisbane last Sunday, with several players in doubt for this weekend's match in Auckland.
Spanish playmaker Dani Sanchez injured a hip flexor during the warm-up for the Roar game, while midfielder Daniel's hamstring strain also leaves questions around his fitness.
Herbert says Smith, brought in as injury cover after Mirjan Pavlovic broke his arm in pre-season, is set to be given a contract extension after his impressive displays and with the Phoenix still struggling for players.
While Pavlovic could return next week against Sydney FC, fellow striker Lucas Pantelis's season-ending knee injury in early October has left the Phoenix desperately short of options up front.
"Alex goes through to December 5 - he's aligned with Pav, but he's done a good job for us," Herbert said after training on Wednesday.
"The simple thing is just to roll him on off the back of Lucas' contract."
Herbert says Smith has been playing a more defensive role than he would usually.
"Ideally, we'd like to play him a little further forward ... we'll see with Dani Sanchez this week. If he's not right, then perhaps Alex can fill that No.10 role for us - be in and around what he's done normally."
Sanchez didn't train on Wednesday, and Herbert wasn't overly optimistic about his chances of an Eden Park start.
"That hip flexor problem, it's kind of nasty - you probably don't want one of those," Herbert said.
"His range is not ideal. We'll probably be on the cautious side, so he's doubtful at this stage."
No comments:
Post a Comment