Cahill lauds City's A-League warriors

Tim Cahill has guaranteed his stay outside the Melbourne City side will be a short one, vowing to return for the club's A-League trip to Brisbane next Friday.

The Socceroos striker was absent from the City side that beat Adelaide United 2-1 on Friday night as one of four changes from their midweek FFA Cup win over Melbourne Victory.

Coach John van 't Schip put the 36-year-old's unavailability down to Achilles stiffness and Cahill said it was only a minor setback.

"One hundred per cent I'll be back," he told Fox Sports after the match.

The Socceroos striker confessed to carrying a problem for the last fortnight.

It only added to his awe as he watched his teammates re-group to play their third match in eight days.

"I'm so impressed. The boys did so well," he said.

"I was injured since the first Melbourne Victory game and these guys have been patching themselves up.

"I've got so much admiration for them because they're troopers. They're warriors.

"Now the momentum and consistency is first class."

Bruno Fornaroli's first-half screamer and second-half 'paneka' penalty lifts City back up to second place, with nine points from four matches.

Against the Reds, coach John van 't Schip opted to make four changes, with Nick Fitzgerald and Anthony Caceres rotated out while Michael Jakobsen missed with soreness.

The Dutchman hailed Osama Malik, Connor Chapman and Paulo Retre for coming in from the cold.

"We have competition in all spots and this evening some players came in and played 90 minutes after not playing for a few weeks," he said.

"It was a good sign that we showed we are a squad and not only a team."