Western Sydney coach Markus Babbel faces a delicate balancing act this week with his underdone players, after the risk of selecting them in the opening A-League round paid off.
Babbel said captain and two-goal hero Mitchell Duke, German striker Alexander Meier and defenders Matt Jurman and Dylan McGowan had all either come off a recent injury or joined the club late in the pre-season.
"If you're not fully fit but you have to play then it's not easy," Babbel said following the 2-1 home win over Central Coast.
"We took the risk and we were lucky with the result."
Babbel said it could still be a few weeks before all of those players were fully fit,
Following Saturday's 2-1 home win over Central Coast, the Wanderers have just a six-day turnaround before playing away to Melbourne Victory.
"Now we have a short week till we play on Friday, so it's not so easy for us to work with these guys, so this is the balance we have to find," Babbel said.
"To work with them but also you need them fresh on Friday and this is not so easy.
"Our squad is not deep with experienced players, so it's a balance of what we have to do."
Babbel was pleased with the efforts of his younger players on Saturday after revealing he had criticised them during the pre-season.
He opted against choosing defender Patrick Ziegler on Saturday, despite the fact he has been back training for three weeks after being out with a knee injury since January and played in their final pre-season game.
"He was so hard working but he's still not 100 per cent and I didn't want to take this risk with another player who is not fully fit to play," Babbel said.
"I was talking to him and he understands this."
Meier was clearly short of a gallop on Saturday, having little impact before being replaced just before the hour.
"He's a big fellow, if he's not 100 per cent fit then you know he cant play 90 minutes," Babbel said.
Tarek Elrich is expected to be out for two to four weeks after suffering a hamstring injury on Saturday.
Babbel lost Bruce Kamau and Kwame Yeboah to injuries at training earlier in the week
Kamu could be sidelined for a couple of weeks with an adductor injury, but Babbel hoped Yeboah could be fit for the Victory game.
Australian Associated Press
