It’s home time for the Mariners this weekend, as they return to Central Coast Stadium to host Adelaide United.
Losses to Brisbane and Sydney in recent weeks either side of the bye have left the Mariners in 11th spot, but it’s a position not indicative of performances and they are just one point behind 9th spot.
A strong performance was well recognised but not rewarded in the loss to Sydney last week, and Alen Stajcic’s forward line is set to receive a boost this week with both Jordan Murray and Tommy Oar returning to the extended 20-man squad alongside defender Dylan Fox.
Our man @ziggyG16 is looking forward to being back in front of a home crowd at @CCStadium on Sunday! #CCMFC
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Oar was a late omission from the squad to face Sydney with a viral infection, while Murray has recovered from the concussion that he suffered at training ahead of round 10 and is a part of the extended squad too.
Stajcic was confident and full of praise for the squad during the week, and said he expected a tough game from the FFA Cup Champions.
“The performance last week was good, but ultimately we came away with no points and there’s a lot of reasons for that and we need to focus on the reasons why we didn’t get points and look forward to this game,” Stajcic said ahead of training on Friday.
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“I know I’ve got a lot of confidence and I know that’s shared amongst the playing group, but talk is cheap.”
“We’ve got to show that confidence and belief out on the pitch and show that it doesn’t matter where we play or who we play against, we’re going to play at a high level and that’s really our goal moving forward. Not only this week but for the rest of the A-League season.”
“Adelaide are a team we’ve already played at home two times this year, and lost both times so there’s a lot of learnings we need to take from last week and bring to this game, and also from the two game against Adelaide earlier in the year.”
“They’ve probably been one of the form sides in the competition this season when you put together the A-League and the FFA Cup so we know that we are coming up against a quality side.”
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Central Coast Mariners squad: 1.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 2.Ian Zygmunt GORDON, 3.Jack CLISBY, 4.Eunsun KIM, 6.Giancarlo GALLIFUOCO, 7.Milan ÐURIĆ, 9.Jordan MURRAY, 10.Tommy OAR, 11.Daniel DESILVA, 12.Adam PEARCE (gk), 15.Kye ROWLES, 16.Dylan FOX, 17.Samuel SILVERA, 18.Gianni STENSNESS, 19.Matthew SIMON, 23.Mario SHABOW, 26.Joshua NISBET, 27.Lewis MILLER, 29.Jair BRITTO, 30.Dylan RUIZ-DIAZ **2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 9.Jordan MURRAY (Return from Injury), 10.Tommy OAR (Return from Illness), 16.Dylan FOX (Promoted)
Outs: 21.Ruon TONGYIK (Not Selected)
Unavailable: Nil
Adelaide United squad: 1.Daniel MARGUŠ (gk), 2.Michael MARRONE, 4.Ryan STRAIN, 5.Michaël MARIA, 6.Vince LIA, 7.Ryan KITTO, 10.James TROISI, 11.Kristian OPSETH, 14.George BLACKWOOD, 16.Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS, 17.Nikola MILEUSNIĆ, 18.Lachlan BROOK, 20.Paul IZZO (gk), 22.Michael JAKOBSEN (c), 23.Jordan ELSEY, 26.Ben HALLORAN, 27.Louis D’ARRIGO, 30.Isaac RICHARDS (gk), 35.Al Hassan TOURE, 37.Jai KING **2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 1.Daniel MARGUŠ (promoted), 11.Kristian OPSETH (returns from injury), 37.Jai KING (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 8.Riley McGREE (knee), 31.Mirko BOLAND (knee), 36.Noah SMITH (foot)
Match Details |
Sunday, 22nd December 2019
Central Coast Stadium, Gosford
Kick-Off: 6:00pm (AEDT)
Referee: Adam Fielding
Assistant Referee 1: Nathan MacDonald
Assistant Referee 2: Ryan Gallagher
Fourth Official: Tim Danaskos
VAR: Kurt Ams
Watch: Fox Sports 505, Kayo Sports & MyFootball Live App
Listen: myfootballnation.com (SWR & Coast FM Gosford)
