Thompson still in doubt for Victory
Sydney FC's arsenal is stacked but Melbourne's strike weapon won't be a certain starter until only hours before kick-off in Sunday's A-League clash at Aussie Stadium.
Socceroo striker Archie Thompson may yet be a late withdrawal for the Victory with his wife due to give birth at any time.
Thompson missed Australia's training camp earlier this month to be with his wife, but ended up playing for Melbourne in the semi-final of the pre-season competition.
His loss would be a major blow to the Victory for the marquee match of the opening round of the inaugural A-League competition.
Sydney coach Pierre Littbarski meanwhile has options aplenty up forward, and could unleash a three-man strike force featuring Dwight Yorke and Socceroos Saso Petrovski and David Zdrilic.
Littbarski, though, is cautious not to push too hard with both Yorke (Trinidad and Tobago) and Petrovski (Australia) set to miss the next round through international duty.
"That leaves me with Zdrilic only up front, so if I don't want to risk an injury and have the same situation we had again Perth," Littbarski said, referring to Sydney's first loss in 19 games in the pre-season semi-final when he had just one fit forward against the Glory.
Zdrilic has been struggling with a hamstring injury since returning from the Confederations Cup in June and only had his first week of fulltime training this week.
"(The injury) feels good but obviously the fitness is not there," Zdrilic said.
"(Playing three up forward) would be good, I think we've got options now. The good thing is the coach has got to make some decisions."
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