The stage is set for an entertaining encounter at Bankwest tonight as the Mariners look to consolidate top spot when they take on Western Sydney Wanderers.
Both sides have already played in A-League Match Week 15, the Mariners completing a come from behind victory over Adelaide United on Thursday while the Wanderers were held 1-1 in Brisbane.
A gap of six points separates the two teams on the table, with the Mariners in first place on 29 points and the Wanderers sitting in fifth with 23 points.
Gianni is loving being back in the side, and rekindling his partnership with the skipper in midfield. #CCMFC #WontBackDown #WSWvCCM
Full ? https://t.co/lPM2NgxRMF pic.twitter.com/VSeSjFyvj4
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) April 5, 2021
The last time the two met a late goal from Nicolai Muller off the back of a deflection was all that set them apart and the Mariners will be looking to square the ledger at Bankwest Stadium.
Alen Stajcic revealed on Monday there are no injury concerns for the side ahead of the game, and said that Thursday’s victory over Adelaide had been important in getting the side back on track.
“We just needed to maintain momentum and energy throughout the whole game, which is what we did,” Staj said.
“There’s been too many patches over the last period of time where we’ve dropped off for too long, especially against Melbourne City.
“But in this game, we returned to that energetic style of play and continued it on basically throughout the whole match and that gives us the most opportunities to create chances and be a real threat on the oppositions goal.”
“A lot of people were instrumental, and the subs who came on had a big impact. Gianni is finding his feet again, when you’ve been out for five weeks it’s not easy to jump back in, but I thought he did really well particularly in the second half.”
“He got better and better as the game wore on so that’s going to happen when you’ve had a bit of time off, it just takes time to get back into the swing of things.”
The Mariners will take a clean bill of health into this game across the squad, while for the Wanderers they will be without Graham Dorrans after he picked up his eighth yellow card of the season in the draw with Brisbane.
Squads |
Western Sydney Wanderers FC squad: 2.Ziggy GORDON, 4.Dylan MCGOWAN (C), 5.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 6.Tass MOURDOUKOUTAS, 7.Bruce KAMAU, 8.Jordan O’DOHERTY, 9.Bernie IBINI, 10.Simon COX, 11.Kwame YEBOAH, 12.Mitch DUKE,13.Tate RUSSELL, 14.James TROISI, 17.Keanu BACCUS, 19.Jordon MUTCH, 27.Nicolai MULLER, 29.Daniel WILMERING, 30.Daniel MARGUSH (GK), 33.Mark NATTA, 39.Thomas AQUILINA, 40.Noah JAMES (GK)
**2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 13.Tate RUSSELL (promoted), 19.Jordon MUTCH (promoted), 33.Mark NATTA (promoted)
Outs: 18.Graham DORRANS (suspended)
Unavailable: 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC (long term injury)
Central Coast Mariners squad: 1.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 4.Joshua NISBET, 5.Stefan NIGRO, 6. Gianni STENSNESS, 7. Stefan JANKOVIC, 8.Oliver BOZANIC (c), 10.Daniel DE SILVA, 11.Jack CLISBY, 12.Marcos UREÑA, 14.Daniel BOUMAN, 15.Kye ROWLES, 19.Matt SIMON, 20.Adam PEARCE (gk), 21.Ruon TONGYIK, 22.Michal JANOTA, 23.Dan HALL, 25. Matthew HATCH, 26.Jaden CASELLA, 29.Alou KUOL
**1-3 to be omitted**
Ins: 7.Stefan JANKOVIC (Promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Nil
Match Details |
Tuesday, 6 April 2021
Western Sydney Wanderers FC v Central Coast Mariners
Bankwest Stadium, Parramatta
Kick-Off: 7:05pm (Local)(7:05pm (AEST))
Referee: Chris Beath
Assistant Referee 1: Ashley Beecham
Assistant Referee 2: Owen Goldrick
Fourth Official: Stephen Lucas
VAR: Kurt Ams
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 506 from 7:00pm (AEST), Sky Sport 7 (New Zealand), Kayo Sports (www.kayosports.com.au) and MyFootball Live App, Live Fast and Data Free for Telstra mobile customers
Radio Broadcast: COAST FM 96.3
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #WSWvCCM
