Melbourne Victory will be stretched through their busy summer A-League run with Georg Niedermeier returning to the injury list, joining Keisuke Honda and Nick Ansell out of the first team.
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The towering German defender was on the pitch for just a few minutes of Victory's 2-1 win in Western Sydney on Saturday but strained his calf for his fourth injury in less than three months in Australia.
The fresh blow rules the 32-year-old out of Victory's midweek clash with Adelaide United and at least three further games, according to coach Kevin Muscat.
"He'll probably miss two to three weeks," Muscat said.
"He's just going through a bit of a spell at the moment. (He's had) couple of concussions in succession and you roll your ankle and now his calf.
"I'm really down for him (though) it's part and parcel of professional sport."
Honda, who has a hamstring issue likely to rule him out for three more weeks, will travel to Adelaide as Victory's fitness team looks for every edge in the Japanese star's rehabilitation.
Without the experienced pair, and with two further games in the following six days, there's no doubt Victory are up against it trying to preserve their nine-game unbeaten streak.
Import Raul Baena isn't ready to start A-League matches following a hamstring issue of his own.
It all means Leigh Broxham and Thomas Deng will resume in the heart of defence, with more minutes coming for Josh Hope, Rahmat Akbari and possibly new additions Elvis Kamsoba and Anthony Lesiotis.
"We might have to throw Trimmers (football boss Paul Trimboli) and (fitness boss) Anthony Crea into the team to freshen up the squad," Muscat joked, before defending his side from suggestions of tiredness.
"We still have the same amount of bodies out there ... from a physical perspective, we're comfortable," he said.
"We've scored if not the most, a hell of a lot of goals in the last 15 minutes of games."
United have unavailability issues too, and will miss suspended midfielder Vince Lia and marquee striker Baba Diawara.
Marco Kurz' side sit fifth, behind second-placed Victory, and have just one win at home from seven outings this term.
STATS THAT MATTER
* Should Melbourne Victory avoid defeat, they'll equal a club record run of 10 matches without a loss.
* Victory also boast recent superiority in their meetings with their oldest rivals, with three straight wins overall, and a seven-match run avoiding defeat in South Australia.
* Bank on Lawrence Thomas saving a Nikola Mileusnic effort at some point. Thomas has the second-highest save percentage in the league; Mileusnic has the second-highest shooting accuracy
Australian Associated Press
