With one month remaining in the Hyundai A-League, the Mariners face a run home that will see them face each team in the top four. Captain, Alan Baro insists that the Mariners must approach the charge home one game at a time.
Speaking after the team’s training session at the Central Coast Mariners Centre of Excellence, Captain Alan Baro made a frank assessment of his side’s performance against Perth on Saturday evening.
We've drawn twice with @gomvfc this season. @alanroc15 is determined to go one better for our fans and claim all three points when we meet his former team, this Sunday. #CCMFC #ALeague pic.twitter.com/k7WFDKmIMJ
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) March 13, 2018
“We know we didn’t have a good game,” Baro said. “We weren’t good enough and it was a very disappointing night and a disappointing result. We’re determined to work hard this week, improve and be ready for Sunday.
“We really can’t take too may positives from the game against Perth – the focus for us is to learn from our mistakes and move on,” Baro said.
With five Hyundai A-League games remaining, the 32-year-old defender will this weekend come up against his old club but insists that his full focus is on the Mariners’ performance.
“As always, playing against Melbourne Victory is going to be a tough game,” Baro said. “It will be hard, but we’ve got a week to prepare to take them on.
“It’s always nice to come back and play against an old club but the focus will be on the way we play. We need to focus on playing well and try to fix our mistakes from last week,” Baro said.
Hoole 1 or Hoole 2?
Pain ➡️ Hoole Déjà vu! ? @FOXFOOTBALL#CCMFC #ALeague pic.twitter.com/IWK4gCM5bf
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) March 13, 2018
The final five fixtures of the campaign set the Yellow & Navy up for a battle against all four teams in the top four, a challenge that Baro says his side are ready to step up for.
This season, the Mariners have drawn twice with Melbourne Victory and are eager to go one better at AAMI Park this Sunday.
“The last month of the season is a big challenge for us,” Baro said. “We have to be prepared to work hard and finish as strong as possible.
“Everyone knows how difficult it will be but we need to have a clear view of what we want to achieve. We need to focus on each game as it comes and not look too far ahead.
“This season we’ve responded well when we’ve faced the supposed ‘big teams’.
“We have performed well in these games but we should be consistent in every game, this weekend we would really like to show to our fans that we can do much better.
“We’ve drawn twice against Victory this season and at home we played really well against them so we will want to replicate that performance a little bit,” Baro said.
Match Details
Sunday, 18 March 2018
Hyundai A-League Round 23
Match: Melbourne Victory vs. Central Coast Mariners
Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Kick-off: 5:00pm (AEDT)
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA 501
Hash-tag: Join the match conversation using #MVCvCCM & #CCMFC
