@CCMariners

Paul Okon Previews Round 9 vs. Perth Glory

Thumbnail

This Sunday the Central Coast Mariners host Perth Glory at Central Coast Stadium and we caught up with Paul Okon ahead of the crucial clash. Kick-off is 5pm.

Perth Game

With a new family friendly timeslot of 5pm, Paul Okon’s Mariners are hoping for a big crowd at Central Coast Stadium in a fixture where football fans can BRING THEIR FAMILY 4 FREE!

The Mariners have already faced Perth Glory once this season where they found the back of the net first through Wout Brama at nib Stadium. Ultimately, the Mariners fell 2-1 away from home and will be looking for redemption in round nine.

Both sides come into the fixture in red hot form after recording convincing wins last week. The Mariners accounted 4-1 for the Wellington Phoenix in Wellington and Perth Glory returned home from Melbourne with three points thanks to a 3-1 win over Melbourne City.

Perth Glory travel to Central Coast with a number of key players missing and will be hoping to continue their run of form away from home.

In just ANOTHER reason to get excited for Sunday’s fixture, the Six Stripes Coastie Lager will be available and on tap at the Mariners Pre-Game Function at the Gosford Bowling Club from 3pm (entry to the right of the eastern gate at Central Coast Stadium). To help celebrate the arrival of summer, those over the age of 18 will be treated to one complimentary Six Stripes Coastie lager to help stay cool ahead of kick-off.

Opta Stat-Attack

  • The Mariners have won two of their last three games against Perth Glory (L1), keeping a clean sheet in each of those victories.
  • Only once in A-League history have Perth Glory managed to pick up a regular-time victory against the Mariners at Central Coast Stadium (Won on Penalties 1, D2, L15).
  • The Mariners have kept a first-half clean sheet in five of their last six games on home turf.
  • The Glory have won only one of their last five games played on a Sunday (D1, L3), though that sole win was a 2-1 home effort over the Mariners in Round 3 this season.
  • Perth Glory have made 244 clearances this campaign, 26 more than any other team.
  • Wout Brama, who scored a goal in his previous encounter with Perth Glory, has made 474 passes so far this season, the second most of any player in the competition.

Paolo in the Press

“We’re really happy to be at home on Sunday,” Okon said. “We had a fantastic result last week but we’ve put that behind us and we know how important Sunday is to us. We felt like we threw away some points in round three against Perth so on Sunday we want to get those points back in front of our home supporters.

“We’re at home, we’ve got a lot to play for and hopefully the players will show that in their performance.

“Obviously they’re missing Castro and if you’re missing a player of that quality it’s always going to hurt you. But they’ve been missing him for a few weeks now and they got a good result last week. We know that Andy Keogh & Mitch Nichols up front are in some good form so I think they are the players that Kenny will be relying on to lead the line. We need to make sure that defensively we can match up to them and play our football to see us through.

“We’ve been promising a result like that for a number of weeks now, we’ve been creating chances but we just haven’t been clinical enough or that final pass has been missing but fortunately for us last Saturday it all came together which was pleasing. Now we need to continue to do that.

“We expect players in our front line to score 8-10 goals this season, Danny now was two, Hooley has two so everyone has to chip in and if we can do that it will give us a good chance to win football games.

“I say this with all honesty, position on the ladder is not important to us at this stage of the season. It’s about making sure we prepare as best as possible, make sure we perform like we know we can. On Sunday we expect a strong supporter base with the earlier kick-off time and we’re looking forward to another three points.

“Playing at home is very important. When we saw the 7pm kick-off on a Sunday we weren’t too happy because it’s not a time slot that will get people out of their homes. The fact that we have the earlier kick-off time on the back of a good win will encourage people to come out and support us.

“At home we really need that support and when we’ve had it this season we’ve always performed well,” Okon said.

Central Coast Mariners Squad: 1.Ben KENNEDY (gk), 4.Jake McGING, 5.Antony GOLEC, 6.Tom HIARIEJ, 7.Andrew HOOLE, 8.Blake POWELL, 9.ASDRUBAL, 10.Daniel De SILVA, 11.Connor PAIN, 12.Trent BUHAGIAR, 13.Kwabena APPIAH, 14.Adam BERRY, 15.Alan BARO (c), 16. Liam ROSE, 17.Josh BINGHAM, 20.Adam PEARCE (gk), 21.Kye ROWLES, 23.Wout BRAMA

**two to be omitted**

Ins: 9.ASDRUBAL (return from injury), 17.Josh BINGHAM (promoted)

Outs: nil

Unavailable: 2.Storm ROUX (ankle injury – 1 week), 3.Josh ROSE (calf injury – 1 week)

Perth Glory Squad: 2.Alex GRANT, 4.Shane LOWRY, 5.Jacob POSCOLIERO, 6.Mitch NICHOLS, 8.Xavi TORRES, 9.Andy KEOGH (c), 11. Mitch MALLIA, 13 Nick FEELY (gk), 14.Chris HAROLD, 15.Brandon WILSON, 16.Joseph MILLS, 19.Joe KNOWLES, 20.Jake BRIMMER, 24.Callum TIMMINS, 26.Jacob ITALIANO, 29.Jeremy WALKER, 33.Liam REDDY (gk)
**one to be omitted**

Ins: 24.Callum TIMMINS (promoted)

Outs: Nil

Unavailable: 25.Daniel STYNES (hamstring – 1-2 weeks), 7.Joel CHIANESE (collar bone – 1-2 weeks), 3.Marc WARREN (ankle – 4-5 weeks), 22.Adam TAGGART (hamstring – 2-3 weeks), 17.Diego CASTRO (calf – 1-2 weeks), 18. Andreu GUERAO (calf – 1-2 weeks), 23.Scott NEVILLE (groin – 2-3 weeks)

NEW Match Details
Sunday, 3 December 2017
Hyundai A-League Round 9
Match: Central Coast Mariners vs. Perth Glory
Venue: Central Coast Stadium, Gosford
Kick-off: 5:00pm (AEDT)
Tickets: CLICK HERE
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA
Hash-tag: Join the match conversation using #CCMvPER & #CCMFC

Related News View More