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Coach John Aloisi has backed star centre-back Leo Lacroix to recover from a poor A-League Men opener to steady Western United’s weakened defence against Sydney FC.<br> Lacroix had a shocker against Melbourne City, conceding an own goal and gifting a second to Jamie Maclaren in the defending champions’ 2-1 loss.<br> To add injury to insult, fellow centre-back Tomoki Imai popped his AC joint and will miss up to seven weeks after shoulder surgery.<br> United’s defence, bookended by roaming full-backs Josh Risdon and Ben Garuccio, was the cornerstone of their run to a first championship but they have had a shaky start to the new campaign.<br> Aloisi expects Lacroix, Bocoran slot gacor hari ini 30, to marshal his defence back to form against the Sky Blues at AAMI Park on Sunday.<br> “He’s been very good. He knows that he wasn’t at his best (against Melbourne City), it was very unlike Leo,” the coach told reporters.<br> “He has been working hard, first training session back, I’m seeing the Leo that we saw last season.<br> “Players are going to have some bad games, that will happen. It’ll happen again in his career – that’s just the way football is and sometimes you can’t be at your best.<br> “But he hasn’t dropped his head, he’s just worked hard in training and trying to get it right and making sure that he’s ready for the Sydney game.”<br> Nikolai Topor-Stanley replaced Imai against City and looms as the first man up but youngster Ben Collins and recruit Jacob Tratt are also in the mix.<br> “We didn’t expect it to happen round one that someone would go down but it has and we’re confident we’ve got enough depth there,” Aloisi said.<br> Imai’s surgery has been successful and Aloisi said he expects the versatile defender to return to action in time for some friendlies during the World Cup break (November 14-December 8) before being reintroduced to the A-League Men.<br> Aleksandar Prijovic is in contention to return after missing game one, but Aloisi said it remained difficult to put a timeline on Alessandro Diamanti’s comeback from a knee injury.<br> Diamanti has trained with United’s main group for the past two weeks.<br> “I’m not sure if he’ll be ready before the World Cup (or) after the World Cup,” Aloisi said.<br> “He’s training hard. I have to give him that. He’s motivated and that’s a good sign for him and for us, so hopefully he’s back sooner rather than later.”<br>
