Melbourne Victory striker Archie Thompson has been included in the squad, but an asterisk remains over his participation in the vital A-League clash with Brisbane Roar.

Thompson limped out of training on Tuesday with hamstring tightness.

But he returned to train lightly on Thursday, with coach Jim Magilton set to give the A-League’s all-time leading goalscorer as much time as needed before making a decision on whether he will play against the Roar at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.

“There’s still 48 hours to go. He’s desperate to play,” Magilton said on Thursday.

“I’ll hand it over to the (medical) experts and then, if they feel he’s okay to play, then it will be up to me to decide whether he plays.”

Thompson has been below-par in front of goal in recent matches, though he starred in the first half of the season.

Victory have also promoted midfielder Billy Celeski to their squad after his recovery from injury.

But Magilton is unlikely to make any unforced changes from the side which beat competition leaders Central Coast last weekend – a win which brought the club back into finals contention.

Magilton has been hellbent on restoring confidence at the club, and says it is vitally important for his side to back up last weekend’s performance against the Roar.

“I’d like us to go on a run obviously. We played well last week. We deserved to win the game I feel,” Magilton said.

“We’ve just got to make sure that we are at the same sort of intensity going into this game, recognising that Brisbane is a tough proposition at home.

“I’d like to build that momentum.”

The second-placed Roar sent ominous signs with a win over Wellington Phoenix last weekend – giving them wins in successive weeks against the other teams in the top three.

Magilton is mindful of the havoc Brisbane can cause if allowed to maintain possession, or if the Victory give the ball away recklessly.

“Brisbane go into every game believing they can win. They’ve got a system of play which suits their players and they’ve been excellent all season,” Magilton said.

“Their ball retention is very good .. (but) I believe we’ve good players and I believe we are starting to get the rewards for everything we do on the training ground.

“Our performance was good and our ball retention was good (last week).

“We are going to have to be that good again, because if we give the ball away we mightn’t see it for a while.”