Bulls coach sweats on key duo for Phoenix
Macarthur FC recruit Filip Kurto is poised to make his A-League Men debut for the club against former team Wellington Phoenix just days after returning to Australia.
The Polish goalkeeper, recruited following the shock retirement of Adam Federici last month, only flew into Sydney earlier this week but coach Ante Milicic is considering throwing him in for Sunday's season opener against the Phoenix at Campbelltown Stadium.
Fringe Socceroos forward Tomi Juric is also causing plenty of throught for Milicic after a disrupted pre-season, with the Bulls coach unsure if his fitness is quite at the level to feature.
"We've got a couple of issues to be honest," Milicic told AAP.
"Kurto just came in during the week so he's getting better every day but we're going to have to make a decision there and at the same time Tomi Juric probably hasn't seen the amount of match minutes that we would have liked during the pre-season.
"We've got a couple of decisions to make but the rest of the boys have all presented well and I'm happy with the way that the week has gone."
Of the two, Kurto looks most likely to feature against the club for whom he played the 2018-19 season before spending the past two seasons at Western United.
Another ex-Phoenix star, Mexican midfielder Ulises Davila, will also be facing his former club.
The Johnny Warren Medallist, who was Phoenix captain last year, has been elevated to Macarthur's captaincy in the wake of Federici's exit.
"He hasn't really said too much, the fact that we're playing Wellington," Milicic said.
"I'm sure that he's looking forward to putting in a big performance on Sunday and playing against the club that brought him to this league will have a little bit of extra incentive for him no doubt."
Milicic has also dismissed his team's pre-season form which has included four matches against A-League opposition which have all ended in defeat - with heavy losses to Sydney and Newcastle.
"If you look at our pre-season results against A-League opposition you wouldn't get too carried away but at the same time that's not how we operate as a team," he said.
"We've brought in a lot of new faces. We believe in the work that we're doing, our process, and I know that now as the competition starts we've got a very capable playing squad."
