Central Coast Mariners Striker, Roy O’Donovan is hopeful that his side will welcome back key players from injury this Sunday at Central Coast Stadium against the Brisbane Roar.
Lamenting the side’s performance against Wellington Phoenix, O’Donovan said that he is confident that the young team will learn and grow from this experience.
“It was a very flat performance from us in an attacking sense but the beauty of sport is that we’ve got this week to set it right,” O’Donovan said. “Wellington set themselves up well, they soaked up our possession game and hit us up on the attack, the better team definitely won on the day.
“There wasn’t a lot of players out there with experience of being one or two down and coming back but the only way forward for these young players is by learning and hopefully there were a few harsh lessons learnt in Hamilton,” O’Donovan said.
“Regardless of who’s playing, I play the same every week and try my best to lead from the front but it does make it hard for the team in situations like the weekend when you’re so inexperienced.
“We are working hard this week in training and hopefully against Brisbane it will be a different story.
“I want to score in every game I play in and Berisha scored a hat trick on the weekend which has turned his season around so that’s the joys of being a striker – some games you get chances and some you don’t.
Looking ahead to Sunday’s clash against the Roar, the former Sunderland man says that it makes for the perfect chance to react.
“Brisbane Roar is a different task for us this week and we will move on,” O’Donovan said. “They had a good result this weekend but this Sunday is another game for us in Gosford and we are going to be ready.
“This week we are hopeful that there will be one or two players back from injury so that will help us, we’re a little bit light in a lot of ways and we need our most experienced players on the pitch for good reason.
“Hopefully this week we can come out and react with our strongest team on the pitch,” O’Donovan 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)
Tickets: CLICK HERE
Official hash-tags: #CCMvBRI & #CCMFC
TV Broadcast: Fox Sports 505
Radio Broadcast: 96.3 Coast FM
