Central Coast Mariners Captain Nick Montgomery has been sidelined for the last two weeks through injury and he is ecstatic to be back up for selection.
Speaking after the club’s training session at the Central Coast Mariners Centre of Excellence, Montgomery said that his body is feeling good and he is ready to go this Sunday against Brisbane Roar.
“I’m feeling good,” Montgomery said. “Obviously it’s disappointing to miss the last two games with a hamstring injury but we decided that it hasn’t been worth the risk, I’m back playing now and happy to be up for selection for the weekend.
“Sitting on the sidelines is never nice, I’m not one to miss many games and I just want to be out there with the boys,” Montgomery said.
The combative former Sheffield United midfielder is a welcomed return for Paul Okon alongside experienced defender Jacques Faty.
“It’s no secret, we’ve got one of the youngest squads in the A-League and sometimes we’re just lacking a bit of experience and leadership,” Montgomery said. “I’m fit to play so it’s up to the manager, I’m chomping at the bit to play. We know that if we play like we know we can like we did against Perth we can beat anyone at home.
“We don’t worry too much about the opposition, it’s our home game and we will go into this one full of confidence,” Montgomery said.
In Montgomery’s absence 23-year-old Storm Roux has worn the skipper’s armband for the Central Coast Mariners.
“Stormy has matured into a fantastic professional,” Montgomery said. “People forget that he sustained a horrific injury last season and he has come back this season and played every week. He took a knock against Wellington that he’s recovering from but hopefully he will be back in time for Sunday because we need him.
“Storm has shown great leadership skills when he’s played and has relished under that extra responsibility, we also have Roy as well who is a natural leader from the front with the way he plays for 90 minutes,” Montgomery said.
Speaking about where the team has lacked recently, Montgomery says that the key is getting the ball into the box to their attacking threats.
“We’ve got players like Roy, Fabio, Trent & Connor and if you get the ball to them they are going to score goals so we need to work on that this week.
“This week we’ve worked hard on getting the ball forward because we know if we get the balls in the box that Roy will score and that’s what we need to win games,” Montgomery said.
Match Details
Hyundai A-League 2016/17 – Round 11
Sunday 18 December 2016
Central Coast Mariners vs. Brisbane Roar
Venue: Central Coast Stadium, Gosford
Kick-off: 5:00pm (AEDT)
Official hash-tags: #CCMvBRI & #CCMFC
TV Broadcast: Fox Sports 505
Radio Broadcast: 96.3 Coast FM
