Melbourne Victory playmaker James Troisi has been ruled out of Sunday's elimination final with Sydney FC because of an ongoing hamstring issue.
The 30-year-old suffered the injury in the penultimate round of the A-League season against Adelaide United and has been absent ever since.
Victory named Troisi in the squad for the Big Blue blockbuster, but the midfielder failed a fitness test on Friday to play some part in Sunday's contest at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.
"It's unfortunate ... He (Troisi) pushed himself. Of course he did. He worked ever so hard," Victory coach Kevin Muscat said.
"The decision we've made along with Jimmy - with his buy-in as well.
"Experience tells me going into these games ... you're better off with players that have been playing regularly."
It's likely Victory will select an unchanged team from their 3-1 elimination final win against Wellington Phoenix, with Keisuke Honda, Terry Antonis and Elvis Kamsoba continuing in the midfield positions.
Muscat said the team hadn't discussed Victory's incredible 3-2 win over the Sky Blues at the same stage last season but has instead taken pointers from the team's 2-1 victory at the Kogarah venue earlier in the campaign.
"It was a good memory we created (but) this is a new contest and new opportunity for us," Muscat said.
"We'll go across there buoyed with our result from last week and performance from last week.
"We've been there so we know the environment. We've played there and created a good memory. Now it's all about a battle and a contest."
