Learning passionate skipper Scott Jamieson was available for the resumption of the abandoned Melbourne derby should have come as welcome news to Melbourne City.
Instead, the timing of the notification has created an unwanted headache in Rado Vidosic's camp.
Jamieson can play in Wednesday's A-League Men clash with Melbourne Victory despite being sent off for receiving two yellow cards in Sunday's 1-1 draw with Newcastle.
The club said Football Australia (FA) had deemed the match, abandoned on December 17 due to a violent pitch invasion, to be a started but not completed fixture from before his send-off against Newcastle.
Therefore, Jamieson is free to play in the replayed derby, either as a starter or off the bench.
"It is so confusing, isn't it?" Vidosic told reporters on Tuesday.
"Well, today at 11am, so after they finished training, we got a written note that Jamo is eligible to play.
"So he can play. He can start, he can be on the bench.
"It's just like they wait for our training to finish to let us know that someone who got red carded last game is available for selection - which is just unbelievable to be honest."
Jamieson will instead be suspended for City's next full game, against Wellington on Monday.
"Apparently that's the ruling, yes," Vidosic said.
The A-League Men match will restart on Wednesday night, 110 days after it began on December 17, with the clock on 21 minutes and City leading 1-0 courtesy of Aiden O'Neill's 11th-minute goal.
It will resume at AAMI Park via a drop ball to City goalkeeper Tom Glover, the player hit over the head with a metal bucket during a violent pitch invasion.
Both teams can and will change their original line-ups.
City's Socceroo Mathew Leckie (hamstring), Dutchman Richard van der Venne (calf) and Portuguese defender Nuno Reis (groin) are sidelined.
Victory's Nani (ACL tear) and Jake Brimmer (meniscus) are injured, while striker Nick D'Agostino moved to Norway.
Victory have signed Fernando Romero, Damien Da Silva, Connor Chapman and Bruce Kamau.
The pitch invasion cast a dark shadow over Victory's season, with $550,000 in fines and crowd restrictions among the FA sanctions imposed on the club.
Remarkably, Victory now sit just four points outside the top six and are out to continue a once-unlikely charge towards finals against stuttering leaders City.
"We've made some mistakes and we've (had) some tough calls against us," Vidosic said.
"It's a derby and it's a completely different ball game generally in these derby games."
