City eye McNamara ALW return against WSW

Melbourne City are hoping Matildas young gun Holly McNamara will return and provide attacking spark they've been missing in their A-League Women clash with Western Sydney.

The brilliant young attacker earned her maiden call-up and Matildas debut at the Asian Cup, making three appearances before a knee injury scare.

But with scans clearing McNamara of any damage, coach Rado Vidosic hopes the youngster will feature and provide the direct runs City were sorely lacking in their three games without her.

"We still haven't decided if she starts and how much she will play. It all depends how she feels on the day. We'll leave that up to her," Vidosic said.

"The last few weeks, we just didn't have that penetration that we had when Holly's playing because she's so direct.

"To be honest when we lost her, we tried with (Rebekah Stott) in that position and although Stotty has got different qualities, it wasn't the quality to run constantly behind opponents' backline.

"So this is one thing that we are hoping that Holly will bring back to our squad.

"If we can utilise that, then we will probably look much more dangerous, we would probably create more opportunities. Then our pressing will be more effective, then everything becomes more effective."

Vidosic delighted in the experience McNamara gained on international duty and expected her to kick on.

"It's a great opportunity for young players and when Holly came back this morning, (it's like) she's 3-4 centimetres taller, she is faster, she is stronger. That's how much it means," Vidosic said.

"For them to be part of that was amazing, specially for someone who's like 18 years old. It just opens so many doors and they can now start thinking about going overseas and not just going to any