Mrdja was sent off for violent conduct in the 72nd minute of the game which Melbourne won 2-1. Under the R2 category offence he faces a two-match suspension which means if Melbourne makes it directly through to the Grand Final, Mrdja will be ineligible.

Victory football operations manager Gary Cole said the club would review the video today but there didn't seem to be any case for an obvious red card error defence.

"Once recovery's finished Nik will come into the office and see," said Cole. "It's not an obvious red card error, which is the only thing we can do immediately.

"He definitely made contact with him. We'll review all that and look at the scenario. We'll look at the broadcast footage, which the match review panel get.

"I've had a look at it overnight. There's just one angle. It's not categoric, the way it is, but what is categoric is that Nik Mrdja definitely made contact with Cole. Why that happened, that's the bit we have to clarify."

Melbourne's admission that Mrdja was in the wrong is not a good sign for any possible defence he may have when the match review panel reviews the incident on Monday.

However, the decision to quash a red card handed out to Adelaide United striker Cristiano during last year's Grand Final does give the defending champions some hope, while Cole said to give Mrdja the same punishment as then Brisbane player Charlie Miller received for a round arm on Robbie Kruse was unfair.

"Cristiano elbowed Rody in the head and split his head open and that was deemed ok, so he got off," Cole said. "(The MRP) have got the capacity to make it two, three or four weeks. But if you compare that to Charlie Miller who king hit Robbie Kruse behind play, it wasn't like that."

While the loss of Mrdja for any of the finals series would be a big blow to Melbourne, Cole said the prospects of Kruse playing again this season had improved greatly and he desperately wanted to play the return leg against Sydney at the SFS on Sunday March 7.

"Everyone's pleased with Robbie's progress," said Cole. "The indications were that there was a decent amount of damage but I think Robbie has already shown his resilience.

"Robbie was talking to the medical staff on Tuesday about the possibility of playing on Thursday. That's how tough he is as a character. He's played through his shoulder injury for two games.

"I wouldn't rule any of them out and obviously from our perspective we want them back as soon as we can."

The second leg has also been marked down as a return match for marquee striker Archie Thompson, but Cole said Thompson's progress from a foot injury will not be known until after the team gets back from the Asian Champions League match against Beijing.

He added: "He's in the moonboot. He's got to stay in the moonboot. When we get back from Beijing, the moonboot comes off and he'll have an MRI and we'll be wiser then.

"They are both desperate to play against Sydney, but the reality is are they fit and well enough to do that?"