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Thwaite backs Tyson as Moss is ruled out

Tyson came on in the 69^th minute of the 3-0 win over Adelaide on Friday night and produced a string of fine saves to play his part in United’s second consecutive clean sheet.

An understudy for the last two seasons, Tyson now has his chance to shine and his skipper has every faith in his ability.

“He was fantastic when he came on and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a goalkeeper come into a game from the bench and do so well,” Thwaite said.

“He was very safe in the 20 minutes he had to play and was under a lot of pressure from the Adelaide fans, but he just took it in his stride and did his job.

“Jerrad is very vocal at training and I’m sure he’ll bring that to the game against Brisbane on Monday. We all have every faith in him but of course we are very disappointed for Mossy who has been outstanding for us and is one of our key players.”

On hearing his diagnosis Moss was understandably devastated at the news, but was typically positive and already focussing on his return to the team.

“It’s not the news I wanted of course, especially as we’ve just started to get our season going,” Moss said.

“But these things happen in football and once I have the surgery done on Thursday I’ll be looking towards the game that is marked as my comeback game. I’ll do my rehab properly to make sure I get back as soon as possible.

“In the meantime I’ll play my part for the club as best I can and give Jerrad Tyson and the other goalkeepers as much help and encouragement as they need.”

Meanwhile, Thwaite himself received some better injury news today with a diagnosis of heavy swelling and bruising on his injured ankle, which should heal in time for him to take his place in the side for the M1 Derby on Boxing Day.

Fears of more extensive damage have been allayed but the Gold Coast captain will sit out of training for the next couple of days.