Full-strength United welcome back stars

Melbourne United will welcome a pair of huge inclusions back to their active roster for Round 17. following the club’s confirmation both Shea Ili and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr will return to the side.

The pair both last played in Melbourne’s Round 14 defeat to Adelaide. Ili has been sidelined with concussion while Lual-Acuil Jr has been missing from the action for personal reasons.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Squad update:<br>Shea Ili &amp; Jo Lual-Acuil Jr will both return to the active roster for our pair of Round 17 away games. <br>Friday vs Brisbane Bullets 7:30pm on ESPN via Kayo<br>Sunday vs Sydney Kings 4:00pm on ESPN or 10 Peach <a href="https://t.co/1taSe72vJQ">pic.twitter.com/1taSe72vJQ</a></p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1749990429750153396?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Melbourne overcame New Zealand by one point in United’s first clash without the key pair, but the ladder-leaders are entering their Saturday night clash with Brisbane off the back of a 21-point defeat to Tasmania last week.

"Shea’s had a good week of practice, Jo’s had a good week of practice so I’m pretty sure they’re ticked off and ready to go, so we might have a full roster," head coach Dean Vickerman said.

"We’ve all year brought people back a little slower than previously so we’ll make our assessment with these two guys, do they play, do they not play, how many minutes.

"They’re going to be keys for us. Shea to add some pace and defence and those things he does for us, and Jo to be the threat. I thought him having a couple of weeks where he could focus on his body and himself, and he looks in a really good headspace to play basketball right now."

United's clash with Brisbane will be live on ESPN via Kayo on Friday, January 6 at 7:30pm AEDT.