NO Fred, no Melbourne Victory. That's the view growing legs in the A-League and it was yesterday backed by Central Coast's Tony Vidmar.

Vidmar believes Melbourne is struggling to reproduce its scintillating form without the Brazilian's wizardry.

Vidmar, who was sent off in the dying stages of Sunday's 0-0 draw against Victory at Telstra Dome, also claimed his red card for a foul on Archie Thompson was harsh.

Melbourne is undefeated but yet to record a win in four matches and Vidmar said the side was too reliant on its star strike pairing of Thompson and Danny Allsopp.

"A lot of people compare them to last season but they're not the same team," Vidmar said.

"They're missing Fred, who was a big factor for them and they don't have that flair about them at the moment.

"Leandro (Love) and (Carlos) Hernandez maybe haven't settled in -- they haven't done anything yet and that probably affects the balance of the team.

"If you're relying on Archie and Danny to produce, that's going to be tough, they don't really have a third player that can cause havoc."

And the problem will be compounded if Danny Allsopp fails to recover from his rib injury.

Vidmar yesterday had his arm in a sling, after injuring his shoulder in the tackle which led to his dismissal.

He faces a one-match ban and he's hoping the injury won't leave him on the sidelines any longer. "I won't know for a few days, might be a pinched nerve but at the moment it's very sore," he said.

"But I didn't think it was a red card, I felt at worst it was a yellow.

"I've seen Archie in the corner of my eye but I've decided to attack the ball and I think I won it before Archie got to it, so I felt it was a harsh decision.

"I was the last man but I attacked the ball and won it. I went into the air but Archie's crashed into me as well."

The league leaders' defensive depth will be tested to the extreme with captain Alex Wilkinson still on the sidelines, leaving Olyroo Nigel Boogaard to shoulder the responsibility.

Vidmar said this would be a good test for the younger brigade.

"Now we'll see how this week goes with injured players, hopefully all are available, but that's something that you'll go through in a team game," Vidmar said.

"There will be injuries and suspensions and players have got to come in and do a job.

"We've got key players out and now others have got to stand up and be counted."