Hectic schedule ... Aziz Behich has played plenty of games in December. Source: News Limited
A hectic month at international and A-League level has got the better of Melbourne Heart stars Aziz Behich and Richard Garcia.
The pair will miss Thursday afternoon's clash with Wellington Phoenix at Westpac Stadium.
They will be joined on the sidelines by the suspended Simon Colosimo and Patrick Gerhardt.
Steven Gray is set to make his Heart debut in the centre of defence alongside youngster David Vrankovic.
| P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central Coast | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 27 |
| 2 | Adelaide | 13 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 25 |
| 3 | Victory | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 20 |
| 4 | Western Sydney | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 19 |
| 5 | Perth | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 17 |
| 6 | Newcastle | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | -7 | 16 |
| 7 | Brisbane | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| 8 | Wellington | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 13 |
| 9 | Heart | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 12 |
| 10 | Sydney | 12 | 3 | 1 | 8 | -12 | 10 |
Jason Hoffman will return to replace Garcia, while another youth team product, Sam Mitchinson, is likely to join Heart's severely weakened line-up.
A fifth change was almost required when a visa mix-up left Josip Tadic stranded in Melbourne on Boxing Day morning, but he was later cleared to take an afternoon flight.
Heart football operations manager John Didulica said both Garcia and Behich would likely only be rested for the one match.
"They've had a pretty torrid last few weeks playing the four games with the Socceroos and the long-haul travel involved with that. If you include the Victory game we've got four games in about 12 days," he said.
"If you add that to the four games they played for the Socceroos and the quick turnaround they would have had for the Mariners game (on January 1), it's too much.
"So given the really heavy schedule there is over this period we thought we'd hold them back so they can give us something for the rest of the season."
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