Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat has admitted shipping Oliver Bozanic off on the eve of the A-League finals eve was a risk, but says it was a considered one.

With a home semi-final in the bag, Victory are tipped to be Sydney FC’s grand final opponents and their biggest threat for the championship but if there’s an area in which Muscat’s side are short, it’s midfield depth.

Leigh Broxham is perhaps the man most fit to fill the shoes left by marquee man Bozanic, but this weekend he will be at left-back against the Mariners in the absence of suspended defender Danny Georgievski.

Stefan Nigro is another option for central midfield, but the 20-year-old is likely to be seen as too raw by Muscat for a finals campaign.

Rashid Mahazi will get the guernsey on Friday night, with Muscat backing the unheralded midfielder to leave his mark after impressing his coach in last week’s draw with Western Sydney.

“I thought Rashid was very, very good for his first game in a little while,” Muscat said.

“Defensively he was very good and I’m pretty sure he’ll be much better tomorrow night.”

Muscat said it was a no-brainer to put Broxham back in defence given his ability to shapeshift to plug any hole required by Victory.

“He’s tried and trusted isn’t he. He’s passed with flying colours when he’s had to do it in the past,” he said.

So while Victory’s midfield options might not stack up favourably to Sydney FC’s formidable four – Milos Ninkovic, Brandon O’Neill, Josh Brillante, and Milos Dimitrijevic – Muscat believes letting Bozanic go to Japanese club Ventforet Kofu was the right decision.

“There’s no doubt when that situation arose it was a calculated decision,” he said.

“Olly had some good performances here. Everyone was judging him based on some (marquee) status that everyone gets excited about.

“He was good for us.

“We made a calculated decision to go down the route we did knowing we’d have less depth. We’re pleased with where we are.”