Ankle injury to keep Goulding sidelined

Star Melbourne United shooting guard Chris Goulding is set to miss another two weeks as he recovers from an ankle injury.

The Boomer was injured in last Thursday's NBL win over Brisbane and was absent for fifth-placed United's home loss to Perth on Sunday.

United coach Dean Demopoulos said they were hoping to see the Rio Olympian back in a week, but would not rush his return.

"This week, he'll be rehabbing and hopefully in about two weeks' time (he can play)," Demopoulos told RSN radio.

"Ankles are funny. Shooters get that injury quite a lot."

It means Goulding, whose return of just 11 points per game this season is well down on his career numbers, will miss Thursday's trip to Cairns and could also be sidelined for away clashes against New Zealand and Illawarra.

Demopoulos said there was no doubt he was missed in the 72-69 loss to the Wildcats as Melbourne struggled to share the scoring load.

Melbourne's radar was well off, hitting 20 per cent of their shots from beyond the arc compared to Perth's 38 per cent.

"We missed him, obviously," Demopoulos said.

"We need to do things better, whether Chris is there or not."