Melbourne Heart captain Harry Kewell has been ruled out for yet another week of football as he struggles to recover from an ankle injury sustained three weeks ago.
The luckless Kewell has not played since the opening round of the A-League season, after coming off injured during the Melbourne Derby with whiplash.
Heart had been hoping that the 35-year-old would finally return for the match against Adelaide United on Sunday, but coach John Aloisi confirmed this morning that Heart’s star player had failed a fitness test.
“We gave Harry a good test yesterday to see if he was able to play or at least be involved and he didn’t pull through it well,” he said.
“It’s disappointing for him and for us, but we’ve got enough players that we think that can still do a job for us and it’s up to the players to step up in Harry’s absence.
“Harry did everything right to try and push to play this week, hopefully he’ll be alright for next week.”
Aloisi was at pains to rule out putting Kewell on the bench this weekend, stressing that there was no point rushing a half fit player back into the team despite recent results.
“His ankle wasn’t feeling right, he was feeling good in certain movements but then when he was twisting and turning and had to jump, he just felt a lot of pain,” he said.
“They said that’s normal, nature will take care of it but he was obviously disappointed because he knows it’s a big game for us and he wanted to be out there.
“I know it’s Harry and everyone wants to see him play, we want him to play and he wants to be out there but if he’s playing at 40%, that’s not going to be good for everyone.”
Melbourne Heart have lost their last five games after two draws to open the season, and the situation hasn’t been helped by an injury list that still includes Kewell, Jonatan Germano, Dylan Macallister and marquee signing Orlando Engelaar.
“We have to be realistic here, it’s eight games in and we’ve still got twenty games left,” Aloisi said.
“We’re looking at the big picture here, and we want Harry back in good shape and we want him back for a long period of time.
“We know what Harry can bring and it’s the same when Orlando Engelaar comes back, we’re not gonna rush him back because we need him.
“When he’s back he’ll help us, we know that and he’ll be a great addition to the side but we can’t force these players to come back early.”