Melbourne City coach Patrick Kisnorbo has praised the impact of his Socceroo attackers after they proved the difference in his side's 1-0 A-League Men win at Macarthur.
After being limited to just five minutes off the bench in Australia's 2-0 World Cup qualifying loss to Japan on Thursday, Jamie Maclaren turned matchwinner for City in the 64th minute when he capitalised on the build-up play of Mat Leckie and Andrew Nabbout.
Free to play on Saturday because the Socceroos next game against Saudi Arabia is now a dead rubber, Leckie's introduction at halftime served to lift the league leaders City after a sluggish first half.
"Lecks (Leckie) brought an energy," City coach Patrick Kisnorbo said.
"We know his quality and his experience... someone like Lecks is fantastic to have."
For his part, Bulls coach Ante Milicic confirmed he had only learned of Leckie's availability "when I saw the team sheet".
Maclaren is unable for the fixture in Jeddah due to his impending nuptials, which led to former Australian international Luke Wilkshire claiming on Network Ten that the striker lacked commitment to the Socceroos.
But Maclaren let his play do the talking as he netted his league-leading 13th goal of the campaign while chasing a third-straight ALM golden boot.
"I really don't care who criticises him," Kisnorbo said.
"We love him here. We support him. We back him."
Despite the defeat stretching a run that now means just one win in their last five, undermanned Macarthur were able to push City.
VAR ruled out a potential Ulises Davila opener in the seventh minute and the Mexican attacker sent back-to-back gilt-edged chances straight at Tom Glover in the 21st.
Able to regroup after going down, Milicic's side finished with a flurry and would have levelled in the 94th minute had Taras Gomulka not cleared Jordon Mutch's header off the line.
"I thought it was a decent performance, Milicic said.
"We started the game well with our defensive structure. First-half, they didn't cause us any concerns.
"Second-half, obviously when they bring on Leckie it changes things up for them. They're a different side when they have Leckie and Maclaren up there.
"We conceded the goal when we did and we tried to push forward but on the night we got nothing."
Macarthur will now turn their focus to Sydney FC on Wednesday evening while City, three points clear at the top, face Wellington next Saturday.
