Melbourne City will attempt to win their first A-League championship without captain Scott Jamieson, who has opted not to return to the NSW hub.
Jamieson had originally joined City for the season restart but returned to Victoria earlier this month ahead of the birth of his first child, with son Cooper born last Tuesday.
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The full-back had originally considered re-joining City's squad in NSW and would have needed to complete a 14-day quarantine period in order to have any chance of featuring in a potential Grand Final appearance.
Jamieson, 31, has instead chosen to remain in Melbourne with his partner and newborn son.
"In what has been a tough decision, I want to let you know I won't be returning to the hub to finish this season out," Jamieson wrote on social media.
"My family is starting this new chapter in crazy times and I need to be here to support them.
"What gives me comfort in this decision though is knowing that the staff and players who are in NSW representing the club have been brilliant from day one of pre-season up until now and I have full faith that we can finish what we set out to do."
Josh Brillante will captain City in Jamieson's absence, while Nathaniel Atkinson and Scott Galloway are the two options to deputise at left-back.
City are second on the table and therefore progress straight to next week's semifinals.
Their final regular-season game is against A-League newcomers Western United on Wednesday.
