Football
AAP 7y

Franjic, Jakobsen ruled out of Melbourne City's clash with Wellington

Melbourne City will be without key defensive pair Michael Jakobsen and Ivan Franjic for Saturday's match against A-League rivals Wellington.

Jakobsen (calf) and Franjic (knee soreness) won't make the trip across the Tasman after falling short in their rehabilitation.

The Danish centre-back and Socceroos right-back didn't play in last Saturday's 2-2 draw with Brisbane.

The long flight to Wellington has been a factor in leaving the defenders out, with both likely to come into contention for next weekend's clash with leaders Sydney FC.

While the loss of the club's two most-important defenders cannot be overlooked, coach Michael Valkanis has many more players to choose from against the Phoenix than he did last week.

Six players -- Bruno Fornaroli, Tim Cahill, Osama Malik, Manny Muscat, Luke Brattan and Fernando Brandan -- are available once more after serving one-match suspensions that had left City dangerously short of senior options last week.

Phoenix linkman Gui Finkler won't play a part in the match after flying to Brazil to meet his newborn daughter.

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