Victory may be forced to rush Thompson back into the starting line-up for next week's game against Perth Glory to revive its Pre-Season Cup hopes.

Thompson sustained a knock while on Socceroos duty in Asia but Melbourne's lack of striking options has forced Merrick to consider thrusting his marquee striker back into the fray for their cut-throat final group game.

“We heard Archie has got a knee injury. I think it's a minor injury but we won't know until we get him home and have a look at him,” he said.

“I would think if he needs a break, he has a break, it's really up to him, but we would certainly like to have him in Darwin.”

However, Merrick hinted his side are on the verge of bolstering its depleted attacking stocks and signing a striker before the start of the normal season.

He said: “I wouldn't be surprised if (Football Operations Manager) Gary Cole pulls another rabbit out of the hat and has a fantastic striker lined-up as a back-up because when we don't have Archie, we really struggle.

“I think that's been our ongoing complaint this pre-season, and we can't go through the regular season with that.

“We've got to have Archie and Danny (Allsopp) up front, the highest scoring strikers in the league, and we've got to have a good back up striker."

Melbourne's loss in Geelong means that only a win against the Glory will secure the team's progression to the Major-Semi Final

And Merrick insists the club still has that goal at the forefront of their minds.

“Our aim in this pre-season cup is make the finals and we are hoping to still do that," he said. "We've got to start putting together consistent performances.

"Our focus has always been to be a better team every week and that's what we're aiming towards but I think it's very important we make the finals.”

Report by Simon Chiarelli