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IT IS "probably" a week too soon for him to start, but Melbourne City coach John van't Schip says Josh Kennedy will play a greater role against Wellington Phoenix on Saturday.
City flies to the New Zealand capital on Friday low on numbers after its mini injury crisis failed to dissipate this week.
Of last week's absentees, only goalkeeper Tando Velaphi is any chance to regain his spot, meaning Erik Paartalu (calf), Rob Wielaert (ankle), Mate Dugandzic (knee), Ben Garuccio (ankle), James Brown (knee) and Jonatan Germano (Achilles) all remain sidelined.
But van't Schip said Australian marquee striker Kennedy had recovered well from his half-hour cameo against Melbourne Victory last Saturday and will be fit to play his second game for City tomorrow as he nears a return to full fitness.
Melbourne City's Josh Kennedy and Ross Archibald put through their paces. Source: News Corp Australia
"Of course it's always difficult coming in to a game when you have to chase the game," van't Schip said.
"We were not really giving him the best opportunities to get in to the game in the way we were playing the last 30 minutes.
"But Josh, personally, is getting stronger every day and it's now just trying to get him playing more and more games. That's something we will try to do, together with Josh, and we'll manage that in a good way.
"Of course it's also important that he starts getting more involved and playing more minutes so we have to build that up."
Melbourne City coach John van't Schip shows his desperation for the ball during training. Source: News Corp Australia
The coach stopped short of declaring Velaphi, who has missed two games with a shoulder injury, a certainty to replace Andrew Redmayne should he be declared fit.
"He hasn't trained for a few weeks at a high level so first we have to see if he progresses today and see his reaction," he said.
"That's something we haven't made a decision about."
Saturday's game is the second in a string of four for City against the A-League's top four sides.
City lost to Victory 3-0 last week and after the Phoenix it will play AAMI Park games against Perth (first) and Adelaide (third).
"It's a massive program," van't Schip said. "But it's also good because we know that if we want to have something to say (in the league this season) then we have to play those teams and we have to get results.
"Wellington is the first one that we have to get a result (against). We are going there to prove that we are a team that can play with the best in the league."
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