Crunch time is arriving for the 2021/22 A-League season, and the Mariners will play the first of their final four fixtures on Saturday night in a blockbuster against Melbourne City at AAMI Park.
The Mariners will be heading into the match off the back of last weekend’s 1-0 #F3Derby win against the Jets, while for City they knocked over Adelaide before playing out a 2-2 draw with Wellington Phoenix.
The teams have met twice so far this season, with the Mariners claiming bragging rights in the first outing before City reversed the result in Melbourne back in March with a 2-0 victory.
The last time we took on Melbourne City was for #Simmo200.
Check out the highlights ahead of #MCYvCCM ?? pic.twitter.com/9velToBLua
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) March 22, 2021
With City on the verge of claiming the Premiers Plate for the first time in their history there is a party to be spoiled, but Mariners Head Coach Alen Stajcic said on Friday that the focus for his team does not extend that far.
“We are just focused on ourselves really,” he said.
“We are in a big battle to finish in the finals race. There are so many teams that are within touching distance of each other and if we want to finish in the top two it’s an even harder challenge so, we really have to focus on what we are doing.
“We know we are coming up against another top team of the league this year so far, so it’ll be a really good challenge but exciting knowing that we are in that battle and that we are well respected within that battle and know that we are confident enough to win if we play at our best.”
“We played against them a couple times this year and we are one win a piece. We have proven that we can compete with them, we’ve proven we can beat them and again if we can play at our peak, I’m confident we can get another result.”
Daniel DeSilva is back in the squad after missing matches against Brisbane and Newcastle and will be an important addition, while on the other side of the fence City will be without Andrew Nabbout after he sustained an adductor injury last weekend.
The clash will feature an important Mariners milestone, with captain Oliver Bozanic set to make his 150th A-League appearance, almost 10 years since making his debut against City (then Heart) in their first A-League match.
The captain has had a big impact on and off the field, something spoken about by midfield partner Gianni Stensness earlier in the week, and Staj had plenty of praise for the work done by the 32-year old so far this campaign.
"Giaaaniiiiii"
Find yourself a hype man like @oliverbozanic ?#CCMFC #WontBackDown pic.twitter.com/cmkQ0aQ54Z— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) May 17, 2021
“Oli has had a tremendous year, you can’t have enough superlatives to describe the influence he’s had within the group, on the field but off the field probably even more so,” Stajcic said.
“He’s been a great addition to our squad and really helped turn things around so I can’t give any more compliment than to say he’s been probably one of the most influential characters around in our group this year.”
“Along with one or two others, especially senior players like Matt Simon and Marco, so look he’s had a tremendous impact both on and off the field.”
Squads |
Melbourne City FC squad: 1.Tom GLOVER (gk), 2.Scott GALLOWAY, 3.Scott JAMIESON (c), 4.Nuno REIS, 5.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 7.Rostyn GRIFFITHS, 8.Aiden O’NEILL, 9.Jamie MACLAREN, 10.Florin BERENGUER-BOHRER, 11.Craig NOONE, 14.Naoki TSUBAKI, 16.Taras GOMULKA, 17.Stefan COLAKOVSKI, 18.Connor METCALFE, 19.Ben GARUCCIO, 20.Adrian LUNA, 22.Curtis GOOD, 23.Marco TILIO, 33.Matthew SUTTON (gk), 36.Kerrin STOKES
**2-4 to be omitted**
In: 16.Taras GOMULKA (promoted), 36.Kerrin STOKES (promoted)
Out: Nil
Unavailable: 13.Nathaniel ATKINSON (hamstring), 15.Andrew NABBOUT (adductor)
Central Coast Mariners squad: 1.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 3.Lewis MILLER, 4.Joshua NISBET, 5.Stefan NIGRO, 6.Gianni STENSNESS, 8.Oliver BOZANIC (c), 10.Daniel DESVILA, 11.Jack CLISBY, 12.Marco UREÑA,14.Daniel BOUMAN, 15.Kye ROWLES, 19.Matt SIMON, 20.Adam PEARCE (gk), 21.Ruon TONGYIK, 22.Michal JANOTA, 23.Dan HALL, 25.Matthew HATCH, 26.Jaden CASELLA, 29.Alou KUOL, 30.Jordan SMYLIE
Ins: 10.Daniel DESILVA (Return from Injury), 23.Dan HALL (Promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Nil
Game Details |
Saturday, 22 May 2021
Melbourne City FC v Central Coast Mariners
AAMI Park, Melbourne
Kick-Off: 7:10pm (Local)(7:10pm (AEST))
Referee: Shaun Evans
Assistant Referee 1: George Lakrindis
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Ilievski
Fourth Official: Lachlan Keevers
VAR: Kate Jacewicz
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 7:00pm (AEDT), Sky Sport 7 (New Zealand) , Kayo Sports (www.kayosports.com.au) and MyFootball Live App, Live Fast and Data Free for Telstra mobile customers
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #MCYvCCM
