Sydney FC coach Steve Corica is confident the club will get the best out of Siem de Jong, who is on track to recover from his hamstring injury a week earlier than expected.
But such is de Jong's terrible medical history, the Sky Blues will most likely err on the side of caution with their injury-plagued marquee, even if he is ready to return ahead of the initial schedule.
Comeback trail: Siem de Jong has made an encouraging start to his recovery from a hamstring injury, Sydney FC coach Steve Corica says.Credit:AAP
De Jong was ruled out for up to six weeks when he hurt his right hamstring in Sydney's 2-1 derby win two weeks ago – the same one he tore four years ago at Ajax, causing him to miss half the Eredivisie season. He had only been on the SCG field for 20 minutes, having been benched by Corica with a view to keeping him fresh for their FFA Cup final.
"He's devastated, because he feels like he's letting the boys down," Corica told Fairfax Media. "But he's well on track to come back, maybe even a little bit earlier than expected. The way he's going, [it's possible]."
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"He's running, he's kicking at the moment, that's a good sign. We'll see how he goes. He's very positive at the moment, he wants to get back as soon as possible to help out the team."
Top level: De Jong also played for Newcastle United in the Premier League.Credit:PA
At just 29 years old, it's fair to say de Jong is only in Australia because his body hasn't allowed him to perform at the level his technical ability suggests he should be at.
According to transfermarkt.com, he was sidelined for a total of 121 matches in Europe due to a variety of injuries. Some of them, such as the contact lens-related eye injury he suffered in January 2016 at Newcastle United, were freak accidents.
Corica knew it was a risk signing de Jong but is confident it will eventually pay off, backing Sydney FC's medical department to do what Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Newcastle United couldn't. "As you can see with Rhyan Grant, getting him back, they're very good," Corica said.
"Even Adrian when he came here last year, he had problems, they fixed him up. It's something we've looked into and to keep him strong and fit is something we will try our best to do."
De Jong was listed by the club on Thursday as unavailable for the next five weeks. With no A-League games scheduled this weekend, the absolute best Sydney could hope for is that de Jong could be ready for the rematch with Western Sydney on December 15 – if not, their trip to face Perth Glory the following round.
With coaches grappling with the prospect of an international break for the first time in the A-League's history, Corica has arranged a friendly between Sydney's first team and youth team to keep his players busy.
He will also spend the spare time examining his transfer options. Corica is keen to add one more player to his squad, with room left in their salary cap and an upcoming AFC Champions League campaign to consider. The Sky Blues have scope to go big.
"For five months, there's enough money there to go for a quality player," Corica said. "We saved the money for this reason – come January time, we might have needed another player. We're looking every day, we're getting players through every day."
Vince is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.
