Brisbane Roar could be seriously depleted against Melbourne Heart should German ace Thomas Broich join sharpshooter Henrique on the sidelines on Friday night.
Henrique (ankle) has already been ruled out of the A-League clash at Lang Park.
Midfield maestro Broich trained on Thursday but failed to fully convince coach Ange Postecoglou he has recovered from the heel injury which kept him out of the club's streak-breaking 2-0 loss to Sydney FC last Sunday.
"I'm not 100 per cent convinced," said Postecoglou, whose first-choice back-up James Meyer is also out with a groin injury.
"He (Broich) is still a bit of a question mark to be honest."
Looking to rebound quickly after having their record 36-game unbeaten streak stopped by Sydney, the Roar have been hit by injuries to key players at a time when they are facing three games in seven days.
After playing the Heart, who returned to the winner's list last weekend, they cross the Tasman to tackle Wellington Phoenix in Dunedin on Wednesday night before taking on Central Coast at home on Saturday week.
But the doubt over Broich could open the door for either Kofi Danning or Rocky Visconte to gain a start.
"If Thomas isn't right it will certainly be an opportunity for one of them, they've been working very hard at training," Postecoglou said.
Brisbane identified areas that let it down against Sydney and despite injuries the club is confident of hitting back against the Heart.
"We've lost a game of football, we're not crumbling at the seams," Postecoglou said.
Skipper Matt Smith said the players were still hurting from the loss.
"The good thing for us is it's a five-day turnaround and the boys are determined to get back to our winning ways," he said.
"Away from the result to Sydney it hurt because we didn't perform the way we like to perform.
"We wanted the streak to continue and while it's off our backs, we don't want to lose again."
The Heart's short-term injury signing Adrian Madaschi said Sydney had removed a mental hurdle for other teams by proving Brisbane could be beaten with the right tactics.
"They had a lot of discipline and they worked well together as a team," he said.
AAP
Tags: a-league, soccer, sport, brisbane-4000, qld, australia First posted December 08, 2011 17:01:03
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