Yallop set for scans after being carried from AAMI Park

Matildas attacker Tameka Yallop is set to undergo scans after being carried from the ground following Brisbane Roar’s 2-0 loss to Melbourne Victory.

Matildas attacker Tameka Yallop is set to undergo scans on a potentially serious hamstring after being carried from the ground following Brisbane Roar’s 2-0 loss to Melbourne Victory.

Yallop, 33, went down in the 89th minute of Saturday afternoon’s fixture at AAMI Park and was still receiving treatment behind the goals when the final whistle sounded. With the support of trainers, the veteran attacker first attempted to hobble from the field but, after proving unable to do so, was piggybacked down the tunnel and into the dressing room.

Yallop won’t risk missing any time for the Roar due to an injury, their season concluding in the defeat, as, after a collapse in the second half of the campaign that saw them win just one of their last 13 games, they missed finals for the fourth straight year.

Depending on the extent of her injury, however, Yallop could find herself struggling to return in time to feature in the Matildas' two-game friendly series with Argentina, the first game of which will be at Marvel Stadium on May 30.

“I think it's her hammy,” said Roar coach Alex Smith. “We'll get back to Brisbane, she'll get a scan on Monday or Tuesday, and then we'll go from there. Until we get that, we don't really know anymore.

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“She said it locked out a little bit. So we just need to figure out why that is. If it's bad, it's bad, and it just kind of sums up the game and sums up 2025 for our football club. But we'll just have to wait and see.”

Despite ending their season on a seven-game winning run and unbeaten in their last 13 games, Melbourne City’s invincible season means that Victory ended the regular season in second, two points adrift of the back-to-back premiers.

City’s win over Perth Glory the previous night locking them into top spot, it meant that Saturday’s win was something of a dead rubber for Jeff Hopkins’ side, who subsequently used the opportunity to rest starters Emily Gielnik and Ellie Wilson.

The Victory gaffer, however, said that their absences were entirely precautionary and that the duo would be ready to go when his side returned to action for the first leg of a semifinal in a fortnight.

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"Everyone's good,” he said. “We made a couple of strategic changes at the beginning and left a couple of players out with two weeks [time] in mind. If we had been playing for a premiership today, both probably would have played.”

Gielnik’s absence prevented her from staging one final push for the A-League Women’s Golden Boot in the fixture – that honour going to City’s Holly McNamara, who netted 15 goals despite missing the season’s first six games – but Hopkins is hopeful that a championship will earn him her forgiveness.

“We wrapped her up in cotton wool today,” said the Victory coach. “She wanted to play, as well, so I got the wrath of Em.

“But I had to make a decision, and I made that decision to look after her for the bigger games. She'll have to go with me for this one decision. To be fair, it's good that your players want to play and they want to put themselves forward.

“That's the good thing about Em. She's desperately trying to win that Golden Boot, but she puts the team before everyone else. That's why we all love her.”