FED up coach Kevin Muscat will only select players he feels are truly committed to the cause as Melbourne Victory’s title defence teeters on the brink.

The youthful exuberance of teenage fullback Stefan Nigro will be injected in to the side tonight in the absence of Socceroo Jason Geria.

Central defender Thomas Deng and left back Scott Galloway will be sacrificed after a 1-1 draw with Newcastle on Sunday that Muscat labelled as “unacceptable on every front”.

But underperforming stars such as Fahid Ben Khalfallah — back from a minor ankle injury — Gui Finkler and Oliver Bozanic will be given one more chance to prove their worth in the hugely important clash with ladder-leader Western Sydney at AAMI Park.

Finkler’s move to Wellington as a marquee player next season was verified by both clubs yesterday, while Muscat also confirmed captain Carl Valeri is an outside chance to return to the side in the coming weeks after a lengthy lay-off with illness.

But Muscat’s chief concern right now is the Wanderers and “giving our fans and members a far better performance than they saw” against the Jets.

“Anyone that goes out there now and can’t produce any more effort than they produced last week simply can’t play,” Muscat said.

“It comes down to individuals now to get themselves in a position where they look like they want to play for this football club.

“I want to see a reaction.”

media_camera Kevin Muscat puts his players on notice.

Lawrence Thomas will keep his spot in goal after coming in place of Danny Vukovic for his first start of the season last week.

Acting captain Leigh Broxham will shift back in to a central defensive role with both Deng and Nick Ansell (quad) out, while Rashid Mahazi (midfield) and Daniel Georgievski (left back) return from suspension.

Finkler joins Kosta Barbarouses in making the switch from Victory to Phoenix for 2016-17, signing a two-year deal.

Muscat said he had no problem with the move being announced now and would continue to play the Brazilian — form permitting.

Valeri trained again on Thursday, as he has done for much of the past two weeks.

Muscat was loathe to put pressure on the midfielder to return this season, but admitted it is a possibility.

Valeri had previously been ruled out for the season after being laid low by an inflammatory brain condition in December.

“He’s travelling very well,” Muscat said.

“We’ve just got to give him a bit of space and let him continue training, but it’s great to have him around the place and training regularly.

“It’ll be a bonus if he does.”