CENTRAL Coast Mariners Assistant Coach Phil Moss says the yellow and navy are heading to Victoria full of confidence ahead of their Round 7 encounter with fifth-placed Melbourne Victory on Saturday evening.
CENTRAL Coast Mariners Assistant Coach Phil Moss says the yellow and navy are heading to Victoria full of confidence ahead of their Round 7 encounter with fifth-placed Melbourne Victory on Saturday evening.
The Mariners are expecting a tough contest with Ange Postecoglou-s men at Etihad Stadium as they look to continue on with their winning streak and consolidate their spot at the top of the table.
“We-re going down there with plenty of confidence,” Moss said. “We-ve got no reason to doubt that the boys won-t go out and carry it out and we-ve got every chance of coming home with three points.”
“It-s always an interesting tactical battle when Arnie (Graham Arnold) comes up against Ange and vice-versa. There have been some really good battles between the two clubs over the years since I-ve been here. We just can-t wait for the game to roll around, we love going to Melbourne and it-s going to be a great experience.”
In six meetings between the two sides at Etihad Stadium Central Coast have been victorious on two occasions, Victory have won twice while there has been two draws.
Moss shared his delight regarding Central Coast-s start to the 2012/13 Hyundai A-League campaign following the Mariners- third consecutive win last Sunday away to Wellington Phoenix.
“The performances have been building and to get three wins on the trot is a big thing,” he said.
“There aren-t too many teams in the league that will get a hat trick of wins in the season like we have. It certainly gives us a big platform to build on for the rest of the season.”
The Mariners will welcome young gun Tomas Rogic, shot stopper Mat Ryan and midfield maestro Michael McGlinchey back into the squad following their time on national team duty away with the Qantas Socceroos and New Zealand All-Whites.
“The boys have gone away because they are outstanding performers for us and they-ve been called up for the national teams. They-ll slot straight back in and we will get a session in with them in Melbourne, so there won-t be any problems,” Moss concluded.
Melbourne Victory vs. Central Coast Mariners
Saturday 17 November, 2012
Etihad Stadium, Melbourne
Kick-off: 7:45pm (AEDT)
Twitter: Join the match conversation on Twitter! The official match hash-tag for Melbourne Victory vs. Central Coast Mariners is #MVvCCM
