Western Sydney Wanderers' Dino Kresinger celebrates scoring a goal against Brisbane Roar. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: The Daily Telegraph
GOALSCORING hero Dino Kresinger insists the Wanderers can drive on towards glory in this Sunday's grand final, despite a growing absentee list that threatens to sabotage coach Tony Popovic's best-laid plans.
Friday night's 2-0 win over Brisbane sent Western Sydney into the grand final in their debut season, having already secured the Premier's Plate, but the sending off of star winger Youssouf Hersi adds to Popovic's problems.
Wanderers will face either the Central Coast Mariners or Melbourne Victory next week at Allianz Stadium thanks to goals from Kresinger and Shinji Ono, with officials predicting a sell-out.
Hersi joins Italian Iacopa La Rocca in missing the final through suspension, while German fullback Jerome Polenz's return from injury against Brisbane lasted 40 minutes before he limped off.
But Kresinger, buoyed by only his second goal of the season, said the team would not be satisfied with the Premier's Plate they received after Friday night's win.
"We're delighted to be in the finals, and we can't wait," Kresinger said. "I think it will be a full stadium with lots of our fans.
"(Complacency) is never a problem with our coaching staff, and we want to win as many trophies as we can. This is one step closer to that.
"We have one trophy but we want another for our amazing supporters. All season, they give me a boost and give me confidence when I'm playing, they make it a lot easier for me. I'm really grateful to them."
Nonetheless, Popovic admitted afterwards that Polenz is a serious doubt for this Sunday's match, while Socceroos midfielder Aaron Mooy missed the win over Brisbane with his knee complaint.
Though Popovic said he believed Mooy would be fit for the grand final, his replacement against the Roar, 19-year-old Yianni Perkatis, was also limping heavily by the end of the match.
Polenz pledged to do "everything I can" to be ready, but Popovic said the defender had been passed fully fit before the semi-final, only to suffer a recurrence of his quadriceps injury.
"Jerome had trained for six or seven days and done every test, he was very confident while he was on the field and played very well," Popovic said.
"He thinks it's not too bad, but I'm not too sure he'll be available next week. I think Aaron will be OK - he was close to being ready against Brisbane, but we didn't want to start or have on the bench a player who came into the game with any doubt, whether physically or in his own mind.
"It's a shame Youssouf (Hersi) can't show his skills in a grand final, but we'll put someone in there with confidence that they can play and do a job."
Polenz said he had felt the muscle tighten, despite every indication beforehand that the injury had cleared up.
"It's not a tear though it's in the same position, and I'll do everything I can to be fit for next Sunday," Polenz said.
"I felt it getting tighter and tighter, and I knew if I played on something worse would happen. Now maybe it will be treatment 24/7, and we'll see how it goes in the week.
"A game is always different to training, especially with the adrenaline. It was also a very quick game and these things can happen."
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