The media might have only wanted to talk about Tim Cahill, but Melbourne City coach Warren Joyce's Friday focus was squarely on his team's round 10 opponents, Central Coast Mariners, as City look to build on last weekend's morale boasting win in Newcastle.
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The merits of that performance - when City got the upper hand in the second half having been under the cosh in the opening period - have been rather overshadowed by the drama surrounding Cahill this week.
But with the marquee man now gone, Joyce is trying to solve a problem at the other end of the pitch - how to replace suspended full back Manny Muscat, the surprise scorer of the winning goal against the Jets last weekend.
Joyce admitted that the experiment of trying Nick Fitzgerald at right back against Perth - a 3-1 home loss when Fitzgerald's last minute stumble on the ball gave the Glory the chance to make the scoreline more impressive than it might have otherwise been - had not really worked.
That might pave the way for tall defender Ruon Tongyk to make a belated first appearance of the season on the right of defence. The youngster featured regularly under John van 't Schip and Michael Valkanis last season but has not had a look in under Joyce.This might be his chance.
The Englishman also said that he might give some of the youngsters from the youth squad a chance this weekend following their impressive 9-2 demolition of Melbourne Victory in the Youth League match last Sunday.
"It didn't go that great when we tried Fitzy there [at right back]. Some young kids could come into the reckoning, some might be making a debut," he said.
"Nathaniel Atkinson did really well last week, Braedyn Crowley, Daniel Arzani did really well in the game against Melbourne Victory, when we won 9-2. The football we played was tremendous, we want young kids coming through to make the most of opportunities.
"We have been looking at it this week, it's a big ask without much practice. It was not so much the score [against Victory] it's the way they played, the things they are doing day in day out at training.
"You see it on a daily basis, it enthuses you as a coach. You know what's out there and how fine the line is between getting a chance and grabbing it and making the most of the opportunity.
"We are all comfortable making sure that young players come through and are the type of person we want representing the club."
Joyce is expecting Central Coast to provide stiff opposition on their first visit to Victoria for the season.
"They play some good football. They are a form team, they have got people who can hurt you, people with tricks, you watch them, they have people with ability who can handle the ball, dribble and score. They might not be big names but they are good players."
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