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AAP
Sport
Anna Harrington

Injury-hit City keen to regain groove against Jets

Valon Berisha will need to prove his fitness ahead of Melbourne City's ALM clash with Newcastle (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

Melbourne City are confident Socceroos trio Aiden O'Neill, Marco Tilio and Jordan Bos can quickly settle back in and make an impact in their return to A-League Men action.

All three players featured in Australia's 2-1 loss to Ecuador on Tuesday night while O'Neill and Bos also played in last Friday's win in Sydney.

"We hope that they are all going to be OK and ready for the game," coach Rado Vidosic said.

The trio's availability would be a huge boost as City attempt to end the stuttering run of form they took into the international break and close on sealing the premiership.

Valon Berisha arrived late back from playing with Kosovo and he and the returning Socceroos trio will train on Saturday.

Berisha needs to prove his fitness after experiencing some hamstring tightness while away on international duty, as does right-back Callum Talbot (ankle).

Jamie Maclaren and Andrew Nabbout have had the chance to rest up from toe and knee injuries respectively and should be fit.

"We looked after them this week," Vidosic said.

"Jamie is now starting to train without any pain which is fantastic, it took a little bit of time.

"It was a good decision last week we had several days off. That probably helped him to get over that fractured toe and he's feeling good

"Andy had some problems with his ribs throughout the week but everything looks OK."

But Socceroos star Mat Leckie (hamstring) and midfielder Richard van der Venne (calf/illness) remain sidelined.

Leckie is another four weeks away as he steps up his training.

"It's good. I had some damage to my tendon, so it's just making sure it doesn't re-occur," Leckie told reporters.

"I'm taking it bit-by-bit. I had a scan the other day and it's come up good, so I will step up the training load and just see how it reacts.

"It all depends on how it reacts when I start doing more in the sessions. If there's no relapses or something that takes me back a step, it could be quicker.

"It's a tricky one ... I want to make sure it doesn't re-occur, because then obviously that puts me out of finals.

Defender Thomas Lam returns from suspension.

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