Newcastle Olympic suffer injury blow ahead of FFA Cup clash with Macarthur

Olympic take on A-League side Macarthur at No.2 Sportsground from 6pm in the FFA Cup round of 32, after just a month of training post-COVID restrictions.

It will be the NNSW NPL side's first appearance in the main draw of the knockout and Macarthur's debut in the competition after starting in the A-League last season.

Olympic face a huge task against an A-League team just one week away from the start of their competition. The NNSW NPL side have not played in competition since August 1, after which the league was abandoned because of COVID.

Broadmeadow had an identical task last Wednesday night against Western Sydney and were competitive in a 3-0 loss.

Olympic coach Joel Griffiths said his side "we're as good as we can be" considering the preparation.

"We'll take a little bit out of the Magic game and try and use that. I thought they were good," Griffiths said.

"The first 25 minutes I thought they were in the game and then you could see the fitness levels come into effect after that.

"We have a relatively young side but everyone is going to take this as an opportunity just to enjoy it and hopefully not put too much pressure on themselves.

"It's the biggest game most of these players have played in, so I just want them to enjoy the experience. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain."

He said Hornery damaged his anterior cruciate ligament in the lead-up.

"He's been going well, so he's going to be missed," he said. "Not just this game but next season as well."

Dino Fajkovic was another loss to injury for the Cup game.

Olympic will have former Mariners keeper Adam Pearce in goals after he signed for 2022. Marcus Duncan, Jackson Burston and Jarrod Dodds are other additions.

Meanwhile, losing the experience and leadership of Adam Federici and Mark Milligan has taken its toll on Macarthur.

Last month Federici announced his retirement due to injury and Milligan quit as a member of coach Ante Milicic's staff.

Milicic said the losses had impacted their pre-season but he was confident they weren't an indicator of wider problems.

"I'm very confident in the group," he said. "We've got a great bunch of boys. They've been training well."

With the exception of Polish keeper Filip Kurto, who is yet to arrive in Australia, Milicic said he had a full squad available. The Bulls have been reportedly among four clubs dealing with unvaccinated players but Milicic said: "All I'll say is that everyone's available. Everyone's training. I've got a full group of players to choose from and there's no issues with us in regards to vaccinations."

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