Melbourne Victory has not abandoned hopes Adrian Leijer will be fit for Friday night's A-League elimination final against Sydney FC after he was cleared of a serious injury.
The enforced withdrawal of the stalwart defender half an hour into Tuesday night's match against Guangzhou was the only blot on an otherwise dazzling night for Victory, as it stunned the reigning Asian Champions League winner with a 2-0 win at Etihad Stadium.
Leijer suffered the injury when an opponent who was attempting to win the ball trod on his foot, causing what coach Kevin Muscat conceded was a "fair knock to the top of his foot".
While Muscat quipped he was pessimistic about the results of scans - "I'm hoping not [serious], but when 'Ado' gets injured he gets injured properly" - they revealed no bone damage.
The swelling was said to have noticeably reduced in the day after the injury. Ligament damage is yet to be ruled out but the club is hopeful a continued regimen of rest and ice application will push the 28-year-old close to contention for facing the Sky Blues.
If Leijer does not recover in time, the likely replacement in central defence would be Nick Ansell, who was one of six players left out by Victory between its previous A-League match on Saturday night and the match against Guangzhou.
Striker Archie Thompson will also be available, after missing the Champions League match on compassionate grounds following the death of his brother-in-law.
The combination of Victory's win and that of fellow group-G member Yokohama - against Jeonbuk - means all four teams are level on points before Tuesday night's final round of matches.
Guangzhou and Jeonbuk have a goal difference of +1, Victory is level and Yokohama is -1. Jeonbuk hosts Victory and Guangzhou hosts Yokohama in the final matches, which will determine which two teams reach the knock-out stage.
Muscat's elation at the result, and the "immense performance" that triggered it, was palpable on Tuesday night. The coach hailed it as a momentous achievement in the club's nine-year history.
"Take away ... looking too far forward and what we've got to do and that we're still alive in the competition, right now I'm just so proud of the group," Muscat said.
"It was an immense performance, an immense performance against a very, very good team that played very well tonight and they were beaten by a better team - because we were good, very good.
"I couldn't be happier with the position we're in at the moment. We've got three full days before Sydney, and if you walked through that change room you'd see a group of players who are jumping out of their skin to be in that team for Friday night.
"I wouldn't go as far as saying we've played the current [Asian] champions off the park, but we were very good - against a team that was good on the night as well.
"They didn't have an off night, they were superb. But unfortunately for them they came up against a group of players who were super-determined and brilliant on the night. Playing against good teams, you've got to be at your best. To win tonight we had to be at our best - and our best was pretty bloody good tonight."
Having made six changes for the Champions League match, the coach said the replacement players "certainly didn't let the club down", citing incoming full-backs Jason Geria and Dylan Murnane for strong praise.
But he also said the assured performances of many understudy players against the Chinese giant would not necessarily influence his selection for the Sydney match.
"It'll be difficult on the players but it won't make it harder, because as I've done throughout ... I'm going to pick the best team available to win a football game," Muscat said. "I'll worry about the emotion of people not being selected after that. All of a sudden as well, there's no one telling me that they're fatigued, or sore, or tired, or jet-lagged. Everyone wants to play."
