Leijer not to blame for Henrique injury – Brisbane’s Farina

Brisbane Roar coach Frank Farina says Melbourne Victory defender Adrian Leijer is not to blame for winger Henrique’s knee injury.

The former Fulham man won the ball in a contest with Henrique in the second half of the Victory’s 2-1 win over the Roar on Saturday night but his follow through sent the Brazilian to the ground.

It was later revealed that Henrique suffered medial ligament damage but Farina did not lay blame on the Victory centre-half.

"(The injury) was the other disappointing part of the tackle," Farina said.

"The only problem I have is he scores the winning goal. Maybe someone else would have scored the winning goal anyway. That's life.

"To be totally honest, I think (the result) was probably a fair reflection. We had some chances, but at 1-1, especially in the second half, we were inviting trouble and they eventually punished us.”

Roar skipper Craig Moore also believed that the challenge was fair.

"I don't think he went in to hurt him. It was a strong challenge," Moore said.

"It's one of those ones where we've had it explained that once you do lunge . . . normally that's where the ref steps in with a yellow card. To be fair to Adrian, I don't think it was a nasty tackle."

The win sent the Victory to the top of the table with two games left to play today.