Melbourne City keeper Tom Glover cleared to return to football following his assault during the Melbourne derby pitch invasion

Melbourne City coach Rado Vidosic admits the club won’t know the full extent of Tom Glover’s recovery from his on-field assault until he’s back on the park on Tuesday night against the Central Coast Mariners.

Glover suffered concussion and required stitches to a cut on his face after being hit with a sand-filled bucket during the pitch invasion at the Melbourne derby.

City hasn’t played since the December 17 match that was abandoned after 20 minutes.

“It’s almost 10 days between the two games so everyone is ready,” interim City coach Vidosic said.

That includes goalkeeper Glover, who Vidosic said was “good to go” – at least physically – for the match at AAMI Park.

“Tommy missed the first few training sessions (last week) because of concussion and came back and trained in the last two training sessions

“He had a lot of support from the players and everyone around him here at the training sessions and he looks back to his normal (self).

“He trained really well, and we hope that everything is fine with him, but we’ll find out a little bit more (on Tuesday night) once he starts the game.”

Vidosic said the disgraceful derby incident was a “very sad moment for everyone involved in football”.

“You kind of only see that on the TV but to be in the front row when something like that happens, it has got even a bigger impact on people,” he said.

“Hopefully this is never going to happen again and we can continue to do what we love, and can promote our game as much as we can.”

City was leading Melbourne Victory 1-0 thanks to an Aiden O’Neill goal in what loomed as an enthralling derby before its abandonment.

“There are a few things that we’ve been working on for the last four or five weeks,” Vidosic said.

“In next month or so, we’ll be able to see even more play like that and hopefully we can entertain our supporters (on Tuesday).”

Classy midfielder O’Neill again looms as a key factor against the Mariners, one of the 24-year-old Queenslander’s former clubs.

“You can see the influence that he’s got in the games and not just by controlling that central midfield role, but also being able to pop inside the penalty box and score goals,” Vidosic said of O’Neill.

“It’s a challenge for him to continue with that, to pick and choose the right moments to go forward, and contribute not just from a defensive point of view and from an organisational point of view, but also from scoring goals and creating goal chances for us.”

“He’s been fantastic for us, and it’s up to him now to take his game to the next level.

“Those 20 minutes (in the Melbourne derby) showed that he is more than capable of doing that.”

Tuesday’s game is part of a double-header that also includes a women’s A-League match between City and Perth Glory.

The home and away active supporter group bays will be cordoned off as Football Australia continues to “review the conduct” of some City fans at the Melbourne derby.