The injury Wellington Phoenix midfielder Leo Bertos suffered in their 3-1 win over Melbourne Heart on Sunday is less serious than first feared.
Bertos was taken off on a stretcher in the 76th minute of the match after going down in a tackle by David Williams.
But early indications are that the New Zealand international has suffered only a rolled ankle, and he will be assessed further in the next couple of days.
“The doctor tells me he’ll be okay,” said a relieved Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert.
“So let’s hope that tomorrow he is a little better, perhaps just a little bit of bruising.”
The injury has come at an unfortunate time for Bertos, who was back to his best against the Heart after a couple of low-key performances that resulted in him being relegated to the bench for the away wins against Gold Coast United and Newcastle Jets.
Bertos provided the pinpoint cross to set up Chris Greenacre’s goal in the 54th minute after breaking clear of the Melbourne defence.
“I said to him at half-time ‘is there any chance you can take the full-back on?’” Herbert joked.
“It’s great to see. He can be such an influential player for the team. He’s got a ton of pace and quality delivery into the box. We just needed that a bit more to put them on the back foot and he certainly provided it.”
The victory, played in front of a noisy crowd of 13,601 at Westpac Stadium, lifted the Phoenix above Brisbane Roar and into second spot on the ladder – a place they have never occupied in five seasons in the competition.
“It’s nice. We’ve never been there before and especially this late in the season to be where we are,” captain Andrew Durante said.
“But we deserve to be there. We’ve worked so hard. We’ve got two away wins in the last couple of games and to come back and make it three in a row is outstanding.”
