Archie Thompson ... can the veteran replicate his Socceroos form back in the A-League? Source: AFP
Melbourne Victory want star striker Archie Thompson to back up his match-winning performance for the Socceroos with a similar effort against Adelaide at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.
Thompson scored his third goal in the Socceroos' past three internationals to seal a 2-1 win over Iraq in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Doha.
He and Victory teammate Mark Milligan were expected to arrive arrived in Melbourne on Thursday morning and will train at Etihad Stadium later in the day.
Victory, who sit bottom of the A-League table, is hoping Thompson and Milligan, who was not used in Doha, will slot into the team to face the undefeated Reds.
New Zealand's Marco Rojas, who played 69 minutes in the All Whites' 3-0 win over Tahiti on Tuesday, is also expected to return to the side that, in the absence of their international trio, lost 5-0 to Brisbane last week.
| P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adelaide | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 2 | Wellington | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | Heart | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | Central Coast | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Brisbane | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| 6 | Perth | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Newcastle | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 3 |
| 8 | Western Sydney | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 1 |
| 9 | Sydney | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 0 |
| 10 | Victory | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -6 | 0 |
Victory football operations manager Paul Trimboli said they would be given until the last minute to prove their fitness.
"We'd love to have all three involved in the matchday squad for Friday," Trimboli said.
"But we haven't seen them in person yet, so until the physio, the doc and the coach have a look at them and have a chat to them we probably won't know.
"They'll be coming down to training and we'll have a look at them to see what sort of condition they're in.
"Archie looked alright in the little clips I saw of him scoring and obviously Milligan didn't play.
"Hopefully all three of them are good to go."
Teammates heaped praise on Thompson after he headed home an 84th-minute cross from Tommy Oar, with goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer labelling the 33-year-old one of his favourite players in camp.
"He's a great kid to have around, he gives 100 per cent every time he plays and it shows," 40-year-old Schwarzer said.
"He's a great professional. He's completely evolved from this kid ... to being one of the older players in the squad (who is) a real leader.
"That's why he's scored so many goals for Australia."
Thompson has scored 24 times in 41 matches for the Socceroos.
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