With the transfer window in Australia now shut, Muscat's only option is to sign an uncontracted player.

But the reality is that the quality of any out-of-contract player available is unlikely to match Valeri, and the Victory coach is prepared to try to retain the title with the squad that won it last year.

"I am not going to say I am actively out there searching, but if something does come up we will look at it. In the last month I reckon there might have been 300 players that came across the desk," Muscat said.

"We will treat every situation in isolation and if someone does come along, great. But at this point in time we are very comfortable with the squad we have got.

"It's very hard during the window, never mind now.

"Carl is making very, very good, steady progress. We are optimistic that Carl will play again for Melbourne Victory. Our concern is to make sure he gets back to full health without any stress, rush or hurry to give him the best chance.

"In general his progress is great, but football has to take a back seat sometimes, and this is one of those occasions. Carl is going OK, we see him daily, but he hasn't got that stress of coming back to play competitively now."

Victory have wavered without their skipper, who was a central figure in midfield. Their record since his last game, in late November against Adelaide, has not been anywhere near as strong as it was in the opening weeks of the season and they now find themselves entertaining league-leaders Western Sydney Wanderers knowing that a home loss would be a body blow to their aspirations of a top-two finish.

The Wanderers saw off Melbourne City last week in a seven goal thriller, although the scoreline flattered John van 't Schip's side somewhat as City scored three late goals having fallen 3-0 behind.

Muscat is wary of Mitch Nichols, the former Victory midfielder who is in terrific form at the moment, and the danger posed by the evergreen striker Mark Bridge.

He is also conscious that however Tony Popovic's team performs, at least one element of its approach will reflect the way its coach played the game - the Wanderers will be hard, aggressive and offer no concessions to their opponent.

"They were very good in creating chances last week. They played well, they were aggressive and had a demeanour about them that they really wanted to pin City down," Muscat said.

"Certainly there were some areas that were exploited last week for them and they took them."

City surrendered possession far too often in midfield last week allowing the Wanderers to counter-attack quickly against their back three and high defensive line. Those attacks were even more effective as their wide players found space behind the City full-backs who were pushing forwards.

Victory are likely to set up very differently, with a back four and Leigh Broxham back to add some bite to the midfield.

Nick Ansell, who did not start in Perth last week because of concerns about the quick turnaround for a player who has only just returned from injury, will start this game and bolster the defence, freeing up Broxham to go into the centre of the park.

Fahid Ben Khalfallah is suspended following his red card in WA, so Archie Thompson or Connor Pain is set to start. The nature of such a big match would seem to suit Thompson and he is favourite to get the nod at this point.

"Archie is the obvious choice," said Muscat. "We have been able to get Connor Pain back and are getting some good work into him, in terms of his fitness and conditioning. Jai [Ingham] is knocking on the door in terms of the way he has been training and understanding what is required at this level. We will wait and see.

"Archie has trained well at this point, he is probably in the driving seat."

The game is a major milestone for Broxham, who plays his 200th match for the club.

Broxham came to Victory as a teenager, working as a gear steward before Ernie Merrick gave him a professional contract.

He has since become one of the club's stalwarts, and, says Muscat - who played alongside him in Broxham's formative years - deserves every accolade that comes his way.

"If anyone has really earned what they have achieved in their career to-date you couldn't look further than Broxy. He has been outstanding for us, taking into consideration that he has been asked to undertake a lot of responsibility in different positions over his period of time.

"To maintain and stay at a club that's always competing for as long as he has, it's a credit to himself and the way he's conducted himself. He has turned into an important member of this club.

"He's certainly a talented footballer, but every season he has had to come back in and prove to everyone, to different coaches, that he has got good qualities, on maybe three or four occasions.

"He has earned everything he has got and his career is by no stretch of the imagination finished ... those challenges have made him what he is, and that's the sort of character he is."