Melbourne Victory boss Kevin Muscat believes the FFA Disciplinary Committee’s verdict to overturn Besart Berisha’s two-game ban was a victory for common sense ahead of the cut throat elimination final with Brisbane Roar on Friday night.
Sent off against Wellington a fortnight ago for kicking out at Nix skipper Andrew Durante while receiving medical attention, the Albanian was initially hit with a two-game ban by the Match Review Panel (MRP) for violent conduct and sat out Victory’s final-round meeting with the Roar.
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But with the stakes high, and Victory sweating on the availability of their 17-goal talisman, the verdict was appealed and subsequently overturned. That, Muscat says, was common sense, adding that the club never appealed whether the ban was right or wrong.
“We wouldn’t have appealed, and we haven’t appealed in the past as we did on this occasion,” Muscat said.
“We were confident we had grounds for appeal and gratefully, common sense has prevailed.
“What we appealed was the length of the sentence, we didn’t appeal whether it was right or wrong. Common sense has prevailed and we move on.
“At this point in time, naturally, you want everyone available regardless of who they are. The fact that it was Bes did bring a lot more attention, but the fact is he’s available.”
With Berisha now available for selection, Muscat can boast a near full-strength playing roster to choose from ahead of the trip north, with only Rashid Mahazi in significant doubt.
The midfielder’s training ability has been restricted with an ankle knock, and Muscat says no risks will be taken with the 23-year-old.
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“We’ve prepared well this week, we’ve managed to get some knocks out of players last week, so it’s great there’s a healthy list with players available to select from, apart from maybe Rashid (Mahazi).
“At this point in time, he (Mahazi) probably hasn’t done enough for my liking in terms of training this week, so the reality is there’s a very good chance he won’t be available.
“That’s just because he got a bit of a knock, but he wasn’t able to train pretty much all week so there’s no point taking risks. My knowledge is … it’s his ankle.”
A Victory win would set up a tantalising semi-final meeting with premiers Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium next Friday.
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