Melbourne City will welcome back Socceroos defender Kai Trewin for Tuesday night’s AFC Champions League Elite clash against Malaysian club Johor Darul Ta’zim at AAMI Park.
Trewin was a notable absentee from a City team thrashed 4-1 by Adelaide United in last Friday night’s A-League clash at Coopers Stadium.
With Trewin only having arrived home on the day of the game from the United States after playing two games for Australia in the previous seven days, City coach Aurelio Vidmar elected not to risk him against the Reds.
“I missed out on Friday night which was disappointing for me, but it was hard coming back the day of the game,” Trewin said.
“I’ve loved playing in the Champions League so far, so I’m really looking forward to Tuesday night.
“The quality of the players is so high (in the Champions League), and I don’t expect anything different (against Johor).
Trewin was sorely missed in Adelaide as the A-League champions suffered their first defeat of their title defence despite the Reds having right-back Dylan Pierias sent off in the first half.
“We were very uncompetitive,” City boss Vidmar said.
“There was one team that wanted to win. That was them. We didn’t want to win, and we didn’t want to compete.
“Our standards were very poor, our behaviours were very poor. Let’s hope now this is a moment to draw a line in the sand.
“The only positive for us is … we’ve got a game on Tuesday.
“After (such a loss) the next couple of days are always tough, but (the players) are all very positive, and understand what went wrong on Friday.
“We have to turn up, and show up in a good way. We’re in a good frame of mind, we know how important it is.”
City is chasing a third successive Champions League Elite victory, having secured back-to-back wins over Thai club Buriram United (2-1) and Japanese outfit Machida Zelvia (2-1).
Johor, whose squad includes former Perth Glory defender Shane Lowry, is a point ahead of City on the competition’s East Region table.
“They’re a very good side, a very experienced side, so it’ll be a nice contest for us,” Vidmar said.
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