Canberra United coach Njegosh Popovich has challenged Laura Hughes to "stamp her mark" on Saturday against Wellington Phoenix, as the 21-year-old is set to replace injured Chinese international Wu Chengshu.
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Hughes will start at McKellar Park as Chengshu is sidelined with severe facial fractures she suffered in their round-two draw against Brisbane Roar.
United were deliberating whether to allow the import's face to heal naturally or get surgery, with specialists predicting a three to six-week stint out.
Popovich confirmed on Friday however that surgery is booked in early next week and her comeback is at this stage likely in early to mid January.
"[Wu] is a great loss for us. What a player. She's only played one and a half games, and already impressed everybody out of sight," the coach said.
"She's very difficult to replace, but I think the team is in a good space.
"They're creating so many opportunities, it just comes back down to putting it in the back of the net and let's hope that happens this weekend in front of a big home crowd."
Popovich has worked with Hughes since she made her United debut as a teenager, and he's expecting big things from the midfielder in an elevated role.
"It's time for her to stamp her mark on the game, and step up to become one of the leaders," Popovich said.
"She has to be a controller that runs the game."
Popovich also revealed that Canberra product Ellie Brush was "considered" to make her long-awaited return from an ACL injury this week, but United are handling the situation carefully.
"Coming off double ACL, it's a little bit more of a worry for us," Popovich said of the 34-year-old cross-code star.
"We don't want to take a risk with her this early in the season.
"We want her fit for more of the season, so I think common sense told us to rest her again this week, and most likely next week for the Perth trip, and then we'll see where she's at after that.
"We don't want to rush her back. We just want to have longevity out of her. It could be a career-ending injury if it happened again so I'm taking all the doctor's advice."
AT A GLANCE
A-League Women Round 4
Canberra United v Wellington Phoenix at McKellar Park, Saturday 3pm
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Melanie Dinjaski
Melanie Dinjaski is an experienced sports journalist at the Canberra Times with a genuine love of all sports. She's covered every code from NRL to NFL. Melanie aims to bring Canberrans all the sports news they need to know. If you have a story worth sharing, get in touch!
Melanie Dinjaski is an experienced sports journalist at the Canberra Times with a genuine love of all sports. She's covered every code from NRL to NFL. Melanie aims to bring Canberrans all the sports news they need to know. If you have a story worth sharing, get in touch!
