Roshn Saudi League saves Postecoglou from Al-Nassr hospital

The Australian coach draws on the Saudi under-21 league

Al-Nassr boss Ange Postecoglou has turned to the club's under-21 side, who compete in the Elite Youth League, to bail him out of an injury crisis engulfing his squad.

The club confirmed yesterday, Wednesday, that 10 players are currently sidelined through injury. That has left a gaping hole, made worse by the absence of the internationals away on national duty.

According to Saudi newspaper "Arriyadiyah", Postecoglou has drafted 7 players from Al-Nassr's under-21 team into first-team training to plug the obvious gap.

Goalkeepers Khaled Al-Dossari and Sultan Al-Mas made the list, along with Youssef Al-Tahan, Abdulrahman Al-Anzi, Saad Haqawi, Bassam Hazazi and Awad Aman.

Those call-ups come despite a patchy campaign for the under-21s in the Elite Youth League. They sit fourteenth with just 6 points from two wins and two defeats.

Al-Nassr's absentee list features Frenchman Kingsley Coman, Saad Al-Nasser, Ayman Yahya, Abdulrahman Ghareeb, Rakan Al-Ghamdi, Salem Al-Najdi, Mohammed Maran, Raghed Al-Najjar, Mubarak Al-Buainain and Sultan Al-Ghannam.

A further 8 players are away with their national teams. They are the Saudi quintet of Nawaf Al-Aqidi, Nawaf Boushal, Abdulelah Al-Amri, Abdullah Al-Hamdan and Abdullah Al-Khaibari, Portuguese pair Cristiano Ronaldo and Joao Felix, plus Iraqi Haidar Abdulkarim.