Defensive rock Dino Djulbic is suspended after collecting his fifth yellow card of the season last Friday, Michael Thwaite is still nursing an ankle sprain and Bas van den Brink is also an unlikely starter after injuring his ribs in a heavy fall late in the game at Hindmarsh Stadium.

Also absent will be James Brown (suspended), Joel Porter (hamstring) and goalkeeper Glen Moss (ankle), making Bleiberg’s task a tough one against a Fury outfit renowned for their battling qualities.

But the Gold Coast boss said that having so many first-choice players unavailable opened the door for the next generation to take their opportunity.

“Friday’s game in Adelaide was a costly one for us but we’re not overly concerned,” he said. “One player’s misfortune is another’s good fortune, so we will use a few young players and we have every faith in them.

“It’s a midweek game and even in normal circumstances we would refresh the team a bit. Of course I wish we didn't have to adjust the team to this extent and it would have been nice to be in control of who was rested and who came in, but that’s life and that’s football.

“People will get a glimpse at the next generation of Gold Coast United and we’re looking forward to seeing them play. With having so many players out the situation has been forced on us and we have to deal with it; it’s as simple as that.”

Even with Gold Coast’s depth in defensive positions stretched to its limits, Bleiberg still refused to press the panic button, saying prior preparation for such adversity would help to plug the gaps. 

Bleiberg added: “We have some strong defenders in our youth team and we have other players who can play in the centre of defence like John Curtis, Steve Pantelidis, Robson, etc, and we do practise in training for a lot of potential variations like this.

“Everybody knows the system and everybody can play. Our young players work and train with the first team on a regular basis so they too are familiar with what we do and how we do it.”