Van Dijk, Cassio to return for Reds

Adelaide United expect creative defender Cassio and the A-League's leading scorer, Sergio van Dijk, to return from injury for their finals opener.

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The third-placed Reds will likely host Wellington Phoenix at Hindmarsh Stadium in a Friday night final, a year after they finished bottom.

Cassio and van Dijk, who has netted 16 goals this season, both missed Adelaide's 2-1 triumph over Melbourne Victory on Friday night with thigh injuries.

But coach Rini Coolen said the duo would be fit for the final.

"Cassio is doing well ... we are preparing him for the next game," Coolen said on Saturday.

"I think he will be ready for that game."

Van Dijk suffered a corked thigh at training last week and Coolen was not prepared to risk his star striker against the Victory.

"(Van Dijk) should be fit as well," he said.

"For yesterday, it was too fresh, the knock on his leg.

"And to take that risk - if he got one knock in the game... it's a kind of risk to maybe lose him for two weeks."

Winger Andwele Slory was substituted in the first half of the Adelaide Oval fixture against Melbourne with a calf injury, but the extent of the Dutchman's ailment was unclear.

"You never know how he pulls up in the next couple of days," Coolen said.

"But the circumstances - the hard pitch, he felt some pain in his calf, he couldn't sprint 100 per cent - so we couldn't take a risk with that as well.

"In the next coming days we have to find out how bad it is, but this morning it was pretty positive."

The win over Melbourne, Adelaide's first triumph in four games, prompted Coolen to declare his outfit ripe for the finals.

"You need a win to get more confidence to prepare yourself for the finals, and that is what we did, winning the game in a good way," he said.

"So we are back in business now."

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Source: AAP


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