Adelaide United's Bruce Djite is helped up by Dario Vidosic before being taken off injured. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: The Advertiser
THE possibility of drawing level on points with A-League leader Central Coast this Friday will not tempt Adelaide United coach John Kosmina to rush back his injured stars.
The Mariners' draw with Newcastle on Saturday leaves Adelaide within three points of the top, with Melbourne Victory a further two points back in third after their win against Perth.
The next month is likely to decide whether the Reds maintain a top-two position, given they face arguably the four most in-form sides in the competition - Central Coast, Western Sydney, Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC.
But Kosmina would prefer to have a full squad available for the run home then risk rushing back Bruce Djite (groin), Fabio Ferreira (groin) and Marcelo Carrusca (adductor).
"We've got 10 games to go and you want a healthy squad in the last five or six,'' Kosmina said. "You don't want to force blokes back and then have them reinjure themselves and give yourself a bit of grief.
"It's going to get tight. This is a tough period of the season. We're coming towards the business end and now it's crunch time. This is now a test of the mental strength as much as anything else.''
The good news for Adelaide is Dario Vidosic (bruised hip) and Nigel Boogaard (hamstring) are available for selection.
Boogaard played for the youth team in Perth yesterday but may find he has fallen behind Jon McKain in the pecking order for central defence. Carrusca will be in full training this week but is unlikely to play, while Djite will begin running this week.
"The injuries we picked up in the last month are minor,'' Kosmina said. "We copped a couple in close proximity which didn't help so it threw things out to some extent.
"So we've got to manage people back. The other thing we have to look is the fatigue factor. We've come out of a fairly intense period - a lot of games in a short amount of time - and the training conditions in Adelaide the last two or three weeks have been horrendous.''
Despite the defensive frailty the Reds showed in a 2-0 defeat against Melbourne Heart on Friday night, Kosmina is more focused on his side's failure to find the back of the net.
"What we need to look at more is how we didn't take advantage of the opportunities we had to get back in the game,'' he said.
MEDICAL ROOM
Dario Vidosic (back) - available
Nigel Boogaard (hamstring) - available
Marcelo Carrusca (adductor) - unlikely
Bruce Djite (groin) - 2 weeks
Fabio Ferreira (groin) - 2-3 weeks
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