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Central Coast Mariners Must Take Three Points From Wellington Phoenix On New Years Eve - Lawrie McKinna
It's a crucial showdown to literally end the year for the Gosford boys.
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Dec 30, 2009 4:04:16 AM
The Central Coast Mariners can climb back into the A-League top five with victory over Wellington Phoenix at Bluetongue Stadium on New Year’s Eve and manager Lawrie McKinna believes there’s only one team that can decide the club’s fate.
Despite some impressive performances, the Mariners have little to show for their efforts since a 5-1 thumping of North Queensland Fury just over a month ago, and have relied on other teams around them slipping up to remain in touch with the top.
Now, McKinna insists the squad has returned from its short Christmas break reinvigorated, and desperate to take hold of its own destiny.
“The boys had three days off and are pretty lively, and we need to be now, there’s a game on Thursday night that we need to get three points from," McKinna said.
"Some say we were unlucky against Sydney FC but we didn’t get anything from it, so we can’t feel sorry for ourselves.
“We need to take our chances. We limited their chances but they scored a really good goal, and we had a lot of chances, half chances and a penalty claim but you have to take them.
"I said after the game four weeks ago we were taking them, but now we’re not, so we have to turn that around,” McKinna said.
While its unbeaten run at Westpac Stadium dates back to October 2008, Wellington has won just two matches away from its home ground in the same period, but McKinna is aware that Ricki Herbert’s side has traditionally been a tough nut to crack.
“They’re very consistent, they’ve been getting a lot of draws and over the last couple of years we’ve found it hard to get results against them so we’d like a lucky goal somewhere so we can go on from there, play some good football and hopefully get that three points," McKinna continued.
The Mariners will be without goalkeeper Danny Vukovic and left fullback Dean Heffernan for the clash, with the pair on national duty with the Socceroos, while Nigel Boogaard is serving a one-match suspension.
Despite those key absences, McKinna says there is a chance for other members of the squad to stake their claim.
"[Nik] Mrdja came on and did well so we might look to get him in the starting lineup, Kwas [Adam Kwasnik] scored a goal [in the National Youth League], Ahmad [Elrich] did alright [in the National Youth League], [Shane] Huke started his first game so we have got a lot of things to look at."
The Mariners’ largest crowd to date this season is expected for the New Year’s Eve blockbuster, and with Gosford Races and the fireworks spectacular rounding off a great day and night of family entertainment, McKinna wants his side to contribute to the festivities with the three points.
He continued, "New Year’s Eve we’ll have our biggest crowd of the season, it’s a great day on the Coast, and there’d be nothing better than getting a win at home, we haven’t had that many of them this season but there’s nothing better than repaying the fans, because the fans that were down there in Sydney on Wednesday were outstanding.
"For the full 90 minutes we had great support, great noise and the boys really appreciated it, so we want to pay these guys back."
Get all the Australian football coverage you need on the Goal.com Australia homepage!
Despite some impressive performances, the Mariners have little to show for their efforts since a 5-1 thumping of North Queensland Fury just over a month ago, and have relied on other teams around them slipping up to remain in touch with the top.
Now, McKinna insists the squad has returned from its short Christmas break reinvigorated, and desperate to take hold of its own destiny.
“The boys had three days off and are pretty lively, and we need to be now, there’s a game on Thursday night that we need to get three points from," McKinna said.
"Some say we were unlucky against Sydney FC but we didn’t get anything from it, so we can’t feel sorry for ourselves.
“We need to take our chances. We limited their chances but they scored a really good goal, and we had a lot of chances, half chances and a penalty claim but you have to take them.
"I said after the game four weeks ago we were taking them, but now we’re not, so we have to turn that around,” McKinna said.
While its unbeaten run at Westpac Stadium dates back to October 2008, Wellington has won just two matches away from its home ground in the same period, but McKinna is aware that Ricki Herbert’s side has traditionally been a tough nut to crack.
“They’re very consistent, they’ve been getting a lot of draws and over the last couple of years we’ve found it hard to get results against them so we’d like a lucky goal somewhere so we can go on from there, play some good football and hopefully get that three points," McKinna continued.
The Mariners will be without goalkeeper Danny Vukovic and left fullback Dean Heffernan for the clash, with the pair on national duty with the Socceroos, while Nigel Boogaard is serving a one-match suspension.
Despite those key absences, McKinna says there is a chance for other members of the squad to stake their claim.
"[Nik] Mrdja came on and did well so we might look to get him in the starting lineup, Kwas [Adam Kwasnik] scored a goal [in the National Youth League], Ahmad [Elrich] did alright [in the National Youth League], [Shane] Huke started his first game so we have got a lot of things to look at."
The Mariners’ largest crowd to date this season is expected for the New Year’s Eve blockbuster, and with Gosford Races and the fireworks spectacular rounding off a great day and night of family entertainment, McKinna wants his side to contribute to the festivities with the three points.
He continued, "New Year’s Eve we’ll have our biggest crowd of the season, it’s a great day on the Coast, and there’d be nothing better than getting a win at home, we haven’t had that many of them this season but there’s nothing better than repaying the fans, because the fans that were down there in Sydney on Wednesday were outstanding.
"For the full 90 minutes we had great support, great noise and the boys really appreciated it, so we want to pay these guys back."
Get all the Australian football coverage you need on the Goal.com Australia homepage!
| Sign up with 188BET for a FREE bet up to £25 – Great Prices, Every Game |
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| Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £100 in free bets! |
|
| Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
| Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
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| Sign up with Paddy Power for a free bet up to £50 |
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