CENTRAL Coast Mariners boss Graham Arnold was upbeat following his side’s 1-1 draw with Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand on Saturday.
CENTRAL Coast Mariners boss Graham Arnold was upbeat following his side-s 1-1 draw with Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand on Saturday.
Speaking down the line from the land of the long white cloud, Arnold said he believes his team did a stellar job to draw with Ricki Herbert-s men at Westpac Stadium.
“We played against a very strong Phoenix team and if Wellington keep playing like they did today for the rest of the season, there won-t be too many teams that come to Westpac Stadium and take home points,” Arnold said.
“We have played seven of our first 12 matches away from home, two of those in New Zealand. From two matches against Wellington, we have claimed four points. There won-t be too many teams that will replicate our success here.”
Mariners- striker Daniel McBreen scored his tenth goal of the campaign for the yellow and navy just before half time, however Wellington-s Spanish midfielder Dani Sanchez restored parity to the contest in the 84th minute to ensure his side collected a point from the clash.
Arnold will now prepare his team for their round 13 match against Sydney FC on Thursday 27 December.
“The most important thing for us now is recovery,” Arnold added. “We will be monitoring our players closely over the next few days and during the busy period we have coming up.”
“It-s important for our players to spend as much of the festive season as possible with their families, however we will train on Christmas Day, train Boxing Day, and will be ready for Sydney next Thursday. Their commitment to the Club and to each other is amazing.”
“It will be nice to play in front of our fans on New Year-s Eve,” he concluded.
Arnold-s men have won five from five at Bluetongue Stadium this season.
The Mariners are unbeaten in nine Hyundai A-League matches.
