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Almost the entire Melbourne City A-League Men's squad has had COVID after another four players caught it in the lead-up to Saturday's game with Adelaide.
Melbourne City's COVID carnage has continued with another four players contracting the virus this week.
With multiple matches postponed over the Christmas period when all bar five members of their A-League Men's squad got COVID, the latest cases are a fresh blow to the Citizens.
Ahead of Saturday night's trip to Adelaide United, City coach Patrick Kisnorbo would not name which four players had caught the bug this week but said they were important members of the squad.
He said the side was "close" to every member having had COVID.
"It's going around - it's only a matter of time. We are just doing our best to sort of keep the boys as healthy as possible, and be as diligent as possible to prepare for the games coming up," he said.
"We're doing our best at the moment, it's very hard to sort of get a rhythm when players are still contracting the virus. It's the current world that we live in, we understand that but we're just trying to adapt to circumstances that we face at the moment."
They will also miss defender Curtis Good due to COVID's lingering effects.
The absences complicate an already-tricky fixture for City, who are battling a Reds side that put up a strong fight against Melbourne Victory last Saturday.
City have slipped up in their last two encounters, most recently in a 3-3 draw with Western Sydney on Sunday.
"We've done enough in games to show that we've got some strengths, and if we can just keep going and doing the things that we do and keep following our processes (results will improve)," Kisnorbo said.
"That's what we believe in and that's what we'll do. We've been creating a lot of chances in the right areas."
United showed character to pinch a 1-1 on the road at Melbourne Victory on Saturday night, having a potential equaliser ruled out by VAR before Craig Goodwin bobbed up with a goal in the 91st minute.
Adelaide sit seventh on the ALM table despite boasting just one win this campaign, a 4-0 flogging of Wellington on New Year's Day.