Melbourne Heart coach John Aloisi has lamented the loss of marquee signing Orlando Engelaar to a broken leg, but is confident he will be back before season’s end.
“He’s not having an operation, he’s letting it heal naturally,” Aloisi said.
“He should be able to start running in three months time and then we’ll see how quick it heals from there. We’re still not sure the exact time that he’ll be out for it could be four five or six months but we’re confident he’ll be back this season.”
The former Dutch international’s injury was a cruel blow to Heart so early in pre-season, but Aloisi says the show must go on.
“You wouldn’t want to wish it upon anyone, let alone your marquee player. But those are the things that happen in football,” he said.
“You accept it, you move on and you come up with solutions and that’s what we are doing. A day later we start to speak about what we can come up with now.”
As for replacing his marquee player, Aloisi concedes the options are thin at this point in time.
“It just depends on what comes around, what’s out there, it’s not easy because the players that are now available will be out of contract we’ll wait and see what comes out.”