The Mariners will attempt to take back top spot on the table on Sunday, when Western United visit Central Coast Stadium in Match Week 7 of the A-League.
The hosts will play their third game in eight days, coming in off the back of a last-gasp loss to Wellington last weekend and the heroic comeback victory against Melbourne City on Wednesday night.
Alen Stajcic has been boosted by the return of Josh Nisbet and Oliver Bozanic to the squad, with Nisbet having missed the last two games and Bozanic rested for the City game after suffering a shoulder injury in the loss to Wellington.
Daniel DeSilva is set to make his 100th A-League appearance today as well, it being his 48th with the Mariners to go with 33 in Perth and 19 at Sydney FC.
DeSilva has been in great form so far and said ahead of the match he is enjoying his time on the pitch this season.
“I’m just really enjoying my football at the moment and enjoying the environment with teammates and everything like that,” he said.
READ: DESILVA EXCITED FOR 100TH APPEARANCE
“It’s a cool milestone I guess, I’ve obviously been around the league for a while now.”
“Definitely pretty happy to have been able to achieve 100 games on Sunday and I’m looking forward to the occasion and hopefully we’ll be able to get three points as well.”
Western United will have had a week of rest ahead of this clash, and Stajcic spoke highly of the opposition during media on Saturday.
“Western United haven’t played as many games as us, but the ones they have played they probably could have and should have won each game,” he said.
“They’ve shown plenty in attack, so many weapons across the pitch so definitely a team that has threats all over the park.”
With a second short turnaround in a week the focus has been easing the team into this clash, and the returns of Nisbet and Bozanic will add depth to the group for Sunday’s match.
Ollie and Nizzy are back in the extended squad for tomorrow's clash with Western United! #CCMFC #CCMvWUN
Read ??— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) February 6, 2021
“We had a heavy pre-season and worked hard, and I guess the dividends are paying off now with the short turnarounds,” he said.
“You can’t get a lot of training in between and really rest and recovery is the priority in these intervening days.”
“So it’s all been about that and preparing as best as we can for the next opponent, whether that be through video or other methods.”
Gates will open at 5pm for Sunday’s game, and Stajcic implored fans during the week to head out to Central Coast Stadium and get behind their team who spend the next month away from home.
Remember, Kids go free to today’s game!
Watch MarinersTV live from 4:15pm on Facebook!
HOW TO GET YOUR ‘KIDS GO FREE’ TICKETS
- Click here to go to Ticketek
- Select ‘Find Tickets’
- Select the Yellow or Navy General Admission Seating Area
- Depending on how many kids are attending, select the ‘Adult plus 1/2/3/4 Junior’ option
- Proceed to the checkout to complete your purchase
- Enjoy the game!
Squads |
Central Coast Mariners squad: 1.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 3.Lewis MILLER, 4.Joshua NISBET, 5.Stefan NIGRO, 6.Gianni STENSNESS, 7.Stefan JANKOVIC, 8.Oliver BOZANIC, 10.Daniel DESILVA, 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, 26.Jaden CASELLA, 29.Alou KUOL, 32.Max BALARD
**2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 4.Joshua NISBET (Return from injury), 8.Oliver BOZANIC (Return from injury)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 30.Jordan SMYLIE (Knee – 1-2 Weeks)
Western United FC: 1.Filip KURTO (gk), 2.Aaron CALVER, 3.Brendan HAMILL, 4.Andrew DURANTE, 5.Dylan PIERIAS, 6.Tomoki IMAI, 7.Besart BERISHA, 8.Lachlan WALES, 10.Steven LUSTICA, 11.Connor PAIN, 13.Ivan VUJICA, 14.Max BURGESS, 20.Victor SANCHEZ, 22.Tomislav USKOK, 23.Alessandro DIAMANTI (c), 25.Luke DUZEL, 26.Nicolas MILANOVIC, 27.Jerry SKOTADIS, 30.Ryan SCOTT (gk), 34.Iker GUARROTXENA
**2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 14.Max BURGESS (promoted), 25.Luke DUZEL (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 19.Joshua RISDON (tibia – 8-10 weeks), 21.Sebastian PASQUALI (hip – 6 weeks)
Match Details |
Sunday, 7 February 2021
Central Coast Mariners v Western United FC
Central Coast Stadium, Gosford
Kick-Off: 6:10pm (Local)(6:10pm (AEDT))
Referee: Alireza Faghani
Assistant Referee 1: Andrej Giev
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Powers
Fourth Official: Stephen Lucas
VAR: Kris Griffiths-Jones
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 7:00pm (AEDT) and 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 #CCMvWUN
Patrons are reminded that masks are encouraged, but no longer mandatory at matches!
