Victory reshuffle for Wanderers date
Western Sydney have the fixture pile-up, but Melbourne Victory have a few injuries of their own ahead of Friday night's A-League meeting.
Jason Geria and Kosta Barbarouses have emerged as injury concerns for their trip to Parramatta after Victory's bruising encounter with Perth Glory last Saturday.
Muscat said full-back Geria wouldn't travel north, taking a pop at Glory coach Kenny Lowe, who accused Victory players of diving during their 1-1 draw on Saturday.
Lowe said Carl Valeri was wearing bathers when he fell under a Mitch Nichols tackle that earned the Glory man a red card.
"(Geria) might have been wearing the same speedos as Carl Valeri in that tackle he copped," Muscat said.
"It's unfortunate because he played very, very well."
It's less cut and dried with Barbarouses, who didn't train on Wednesday but is yet to be ruled out.
"He's struggling a little bit as well, he's got a bit of complaint coming from his back," Muscat said.
"We're hoping he'll be fine but no risks will be taken."
While Archie Thompson or Connor Pain are like-for-like responses for Barbarouses, Muscat said he hadn't decided on who would come into the side for Geria.
Utility Leigh Broxham and full-back Scott Galloway were named as potential replacements.
Having sold Adrian Leijer to Chinese Super League club Chongqing Lifan, Victory's title assault could rest on the severity of these injuries.
But at this stage, it's not enough for Muscat to bring in a free agent to sure up his team's defence.
"You've got to weigh these things up and calculate how much risk and how much reward there is," he said.
"I've still got every confidence and faith in the group that we've got."
Wanderers, who play Melbourne City on Wednesday night, must return to Pirtek Stadium less than 48 hours later to play Victory.
The pairing of two of the A-League's best supported teams would normally be a marquee match but the combination of Wanderers' poor form and the fixture congestion has dampened the occasion.
Muscat said Western Sydney's two matches in quick succession wasn't his problem or his focus.
"It's far from ideal," he said.
"But it won't make any difference if we don't turn up, work hard and play at a high tempo.
