Fortunately for Salvachúa, his side appears to have escaped the first four games of his five-game opening stint relatively unscathed; only Leigh Broxham’s suspension and Thomas Deng’s departure for J1 League side Urawa Red Diamonds will reduce the pool of players available to him ahead of the clash with Glory.

“Deng is a big loss for us,” Salvachúa said. “The club is working – of course – in trying to contract, if possible, any [replacement] player.”

James Donachie, suspended for the Sydney FC game, is set to return for the Glory clash and Ola Toivonen, who played eight minutes as Victory shut the door on Kashima, should be available for an increased role. Oft-injured defender Tim Hoogland, a month after he had surgery on his knee, has been named in the squad.

The stage is also set for Marco Rojas to make his much-anticipated return to action in a Victory shirt, with confirmation given that he will be on the plane to Western Australia.

“We know that there is a big risk [of injury] at the moment because some players are playing in all the games and we have to manage this, if it’s possible, their minutes,” the Victory boss said.

“We need to be ready for this situation, we have more risk now of injuries.

"[Toivonen] trained with us all week, the first week after a month out of the squad. He played a few minutes against Sydney as well as the other day [against Kashima] and now he’s more fit.

“[Hoogland] trained today with the team and I think we’ll see. He’s close. We have to know that he had surgery one month ago and he needs time with the team.

“Rojas is travelling with the team. He will be in Perth tomorrow and he will be another option for us to use him in the next games.”