Brisbane Roar will be without skipper Matt Smith, vice-captain Shane Stefanutto and winger Henrique for Wednesday night’s AFC Champions League fixture against Beijing Guoan at Brisbane Stadium.
Brisbane Roar will be without skipper Matt Smith, vice-captain Shane Stefanutto and winger Henrique for Wednesday night-s AFC Champions League fixture against Beijing Guoan at Brisbane Stadium.
The injured trio will not take any part in the club-s final match of their 2012 campaign while youngster Jack Hingert, who suffered an ankle injury in the second leg of the Hyundai A-League semi-final, is also still recuperating.
The Roar captain had surgery early last week to remove an infection in an arm wound sustained after a clash with Perth Glory-s Shane Smeltz in the Hyundai A-League decider and will not be risked against the Chinese Super League team.
“After the Tokyo game, he must-ve picked up an organism that caused quite a serious infection,” Brisbane Roar Head Physio Tim Oostenbroek said.
“It was probably a fairly conservative and cautious approach but the best treatment option was to surgically debride it and cut out the infection.
“Given that procedure and given that the game is essentially a dead rubber, we-ve made the decision to rest Matty and make sure he gets a full healing outcome in preparation for next season.”
Stefanutto and Henrique are victims of unfortunate training ground incidents with the Brazilian succumbing to a hamstring strain last Thursday while the veteran defender tore his left quadracep the following day.
Oostenbroek said while both players were disappointed to end the season on the sidelines, the timing would ensure the duo is fully fit in time for the beginning of the club-s pre-season regime.
“With Ricky, it-s not too serious and it-s a good time because he won-t be going home to Brazil over the break due to the birth of his daughter,” he said.
“In normal circumstances, it-d be about a three to four week type of injury but we-ll give him all the time he needs to make sure he-s back in training with the squad on July 9.
“We are also quite confident that working with Shane over the next couple of weeks, we-ll have him progress well with his rehabilitation.
“It would normally be about a four to six week injury so he-s definitely on track to return to the squad in time.”
Five weeks after he injured his ankle against Central Coast Mariners, Hingert has begun to take part in light runs at training and is showing steady signs of improvement.
Hingert, Henrique and Stefanutto will continue their respective rehabilitation programs after the squad breaks up for their off-season break this weekend with Oostenbroek not ruling out bringing in the trio early for pre-season to ensure their fitness either.
