Central Coast Mariners Head Coach Phil Moss has named an initial 18-player squad for Saturday’s NSW derby against Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium.
Central Coast Mariners Head Coach Phil Moss has named an initial 18-player squad for Saturday-s NSW derby against Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium.
Having picked up his fifth yellow card of the campaign against Wellington Phoenix last Sunday, regular captain John Hutchinson is suspended for the trip south to Sydney.
Tom Slater has overcome a back injury to be considered for the clash, while Hayden Morton is also in contention for the game having scored for the Club-s Foxtel National Youth League team against the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra last round.
Boss Moss said he is confident the Club has the depth in midfield to cover the loss of Hutchinson against the Sky Blues.
“John Hutchinson is suspended, but obviously we have some depth in those areas to cover Hutch-s loss for this week,” Moss said.
“He-s our captain and one of our on-field leaders so we need other players to step up in that role and lead us in what is a difficult venue to go to.”
“We go down there with confidence and whoever takes to the field on the weekend will do a good job.”
Frank Farina-s men have been hot and cold this season, however the Sky Blues understand that a win over the Mariners will take them back into the Hyundai A-League-s top six.
Moss said his team must stick to its game plan.
“I honestly don-t look too deeply into their (Sydney-s) form,” he said. “Sydney can be good one week, and not so the next.”
“At the end of the day we know what we have to do. We-ll take the game plan to Allianz and it-s about executing it, and in this league as you see week in week out, the teams that can execute their game plan for 90 per cent of the match ultimately win the game.”
Central Coast Mariners Squad vs. Sydney FC: 1. Justin PASFIELD (Gk), 2. Daniel MCBREEN, 3. Joshua ROSE, 4. Marcel SEIP, 5. Zachary ANDERSON, 6. Brent GRIFFITHS, 8. Nick MONTGOMERY, 9. Mitchell DUKE, 11. Nick FITZGERALD, 12. Liam REDDY (Gk), 13. Hayden MORTON, 15. Storm ROUX, 16. Trent SAINSBURY, 17. Anthony CACERES, 19. Matt SIMON, 20. Bernie IBINI, 21. Mile STERJOVSKI, 22. Tom SLATER
Ins: 4. Marcel SEIP (promoted), 13. Hayden MORTON (promoted), 22. Tom SLATER (promoted)
Outs: 7. John HUTCHINSON (suspended – 1 week)
Unavailable: 10. Marcos FLORES (knee – season), 14. Michael MCGLINCHEY (on loan – Vegalta Sendai), 18. Michael NEILL (knee – indefinite), 23. Adam KWASNIK (knee – season)
Sydney FC vs. Central Coast Mariners FC – Hyundai A-League 2013/14 Round 15
Saturday 18 January, 2014
Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Kick-off: 7:45pm
Tickets: Please CLICK HERE to purchase tickets to the match
Twitter: Join the match conversation on Twitter! The official match hashtag is #SYDvCCM
TV: Live on Fox Sports 1 & 1HD
Radio: Live on ABC Grandstand & Coast FM
