Sydney FC star Brett Emerton likely to be sidelined for A-League season opener Sydney FC's Brett Emerton is in doubt for Friday's clash with Newcastle. Sydney FC have been dealt a major blow for Friday night's season-opening clash against Newcastle at Allianz Stadium with marquee star Brett Emerton almost certainly out with a back injury. The 34-year-old pulled up in the final minutes of Wednesday's training session at Macquarie University after feeling his back seize up. Emerton now appears highly unlikely to be risked against the Jets, adding to an already-large list of unavailable players. "It's an ongoing problem with Emo and we thought his back had settled down pretty quickly but we'll see tomorrow [Thursday] how he wakes up," Farina said. He was just running along and I saw him seize up, so I stopped the session. An hour later he was better but we probably won't know until tomorrow. Asked if he was prepared to roll the dice with the former Blackburn defender, Farina admitted it was unlikely. "I'd rather not play any player who isn't 100 per cent fit," he said. We've got the cover available and I wouldn't want to go into the first game of the season with even one or two players in doubt. I wouldn't risk that. The club will be without Terry Antonis and Peter Triantis for some time as the young pair have missed most of the pre-season with injury. Triantis is battling osteitis pubis and Antonis is overcoming a torn thigh muscle. "Rest is the only solution for Peter and we're still waiting on Terry to get himself right," Farina said. He also declared captain Terry McFlynn's groin injury as a "four-weeker" despite hope around the club that he would return sooner. There's worrying news for Pascal Bosschaart, with Farina frustrated at seeing the Dutch defender ruled out for the early stages of the season. Pascal has hurt Achilles again but not the same one he's had two operations on. He'll be out for another four-six weeks," Farina said. He's had a tough time after two Achilles operations in 10 months. Both he and us have done everything right but then this comes up. I think his body is screaming out a bit, actually. One injury has followed another, so we've got to be extra careful. Former Melbourne Heart utility Matthew Thompson will be drafted in on a short-term contract and should be cleared to play by Friday night. He's been training with us for 10 days and we'll try to bring him in. The only problem is that when we tried to sign Nikola [Petkovic], the FFA wouldn't let us sign him as an injury replacement," he said. There's still ways we can get him, perhaps on a short-term deal, and I'd like to have him until January if I can. New striker Corey Gameiro will miss at least six weeks after an injury that Farina describes "freakishly unlucky" - slipping while reaching for a ball during a promotional shoot for Fox Sports. Brazilian defender Tiago Calvano is also fighting to overcome a minor strain, with Farina confirming he was facing an uphill battle to play against the Jets. It was quite incredible, really. We were travelling along quite well and then in the space of 10 days, we were hit by a raft of injuries," he said. There's just nothing you can do about it and the timing is very unfortunate. Fringe pair Blake Powell and Daniel Petkovski have been allowed to join the club's youth team for a tournament in Vietnam to lift their match fitness while Yairu Yau is on international duty with Panama. On the plus side, goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic is fully fit, likewise defenders Rhyan Grant and Pedj Bojic. Nicky Carle has also been given the green light to play. "Nicky copped a knock against Perth but has trained fully in the past two days and should be right to go," Farina said. We won't be struggling to put out a side but there's obviously a few we'll be missing who'd ordinarily be in the first XI.