Alen Stajcic and the Mariners will be looking to build on their season opening #F3Derby win when they take on Macarthur at Campbelltown Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
A first up win over the Jets at Central Coast Stadium was a perfect start for Stajcic’s side, and they will take on the Bulls who also won their opening clash 1-0, against the Wanderers.
Stajcic named his extended squad on Saturday morning, adding Dan Hall and Matt Hatch to the 18 selected on Thursday, and fatigue management will be key with a turnaround time of less than 72 hours between games.
Macarthur themselves only had one extra day for recovery, and Ante Milicic has also brought in extra troops with Tommy Oar and Liam Rose added to the group that prevailed at Bankwest courtesy of a second half goal.
The Niz! Your Macca's Fan's Player of the Match for our first up win against the Jets! #CCMFC #F3Derby #WontBackDown pic.twitter.com/sXawuigosg
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) January 2, 2021
Speaking to Fox Sports News on Friday after the first up win, Stajcic admitted the tough task ahead but also a desire to prove people wrong this year.
“I thought they [Macarthur] were fantastic the other night, and probably the pick of the round to be honest,” he said.
“They have a good squad, good depth, probably in my view the best recruitment out of any team in the league.
“I know they’ve started from scratch but such good depth, to bring onto the pitch guys who have played two or three hundred games in LaLiga just shows how much they’ve got.”
“Then you look at leaders like Milligan and Federici, they’re really a squad that’s strong and powerful all around the pitch and a good sprinkling of youngsters as well so it’s going to be a tough game for us.
“We’ve got to prove people wrong, that’s always a motivation. I love proving people wrong, I know the boys in the team feel a similar way.”
“We’re not going to get carried away and say we’ve proved anyone wrong yet, it’s just one win but certainly they showed enough attitude, character and behaviour which was the most pleasing part.”
“Technically and tactically I thought we were just okay, there’s certainly a lot of elements to improve but certainly the heart and the effort is for me the best platform we could have laid and if we take that into every game of the year then we’ll win more than we lose.”
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Match Details |
Sunday, 3rd January 2021
Macarthur FC v Central Coast Mariners
Campbelltown Stadium, Campbelltown
Kick-Off: 4:05pm (Local) (4:05pm (AEDT))
Referee: Daniel Elder
Assistant Referee 1: Kearney Robinson
Assistant Referee 2: Andrej Giev
Fourth Official: Stephen Lucas
VAR: Kris Griffiths-Jones
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 3:30pm (AEDT), 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 #MFCvCCM
Squads |
Macarthur FC squad: 1.Adam FEDERICI (gk), 3.Antony GOLEC, 4.Benat ETXEBARRIA, 5 Mark MILLIGAN (c), 6.Aleksandar JOVANOVIC, 7.Ivan FRANJIC, 8.Denis GENREAU, 10.Loic PUYO, 11.Tommy OAR, 14.Moudi NAJJAR, 15.Aleksandar SUSNJAR, 16.Nick SUMAN (gk), 19.Michael RUHS, 21.Jake HOLLMAN, 22.Liam ROSE, 27.Matt DERBYSHIRE, 29.Antonis MARTIS, 31.Lachlan ROSE, 33.Markel SUSAETA
**1-3 to be omitted**
Ins: 11.Tommy OAR (promoted), 22.Liam ROSE (promoted)
Outs: 12.James MEREDITH (not selected)
Unavailable: Nil
Central Coast Mariners Squad: 1.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 3.Lewis MILLER, 4.Joshua NISBET, 5.Stefan NIGRO, 6.Gianni STENSNESS, 8.Oliver BOZANIC (c), 10.Daniel DESILVA, 11.Jack CLISBY, 14.Daniel BOUMAN, 15.Kye ROWLES, 19.Matt SIMON, 20.Adam PEARCE (gk), 21.Ruon TONGYIK, 23.Dan HALL, 25.Matthew HATCH, 26.Jaden CASELLA, 29.Alou KUOL, 30.Jordan SMYLIE, 31.Damian TSEKENIS, 32.Max BALARD
**2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 29. Dan HALL (Promoted), 25.Matthew HATCH (Promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 7.Stefan JANKOVIC (Quarantine), 12.Marcos URENA (Quarantine), 22.Michal JANOTA (Quarantine)
