CENTRAL Coast Mariners goalkeeper Mathew Ryan expects a tough contest when the Yellow and Navy head to New Zealand for the Round 6 encounter against Wellington Phoenix on Sunday at Westpac Stadium.
CENTRAL Coast Mariners goalkeeper Mathew Ryan expects a tough contest when the yellow and navy head to New Zealand for the Round 6 encounter against Wellington Phoenix at Westpac Stadium on Sunday.
The Phoenix will be looking to return to winning ways after back-to-back losses, while Graham Arnold-s men are looking for their third consecutive win.
“I didn-t see their game (on Monday) but I heard about the scoreline,” Ryan said. “They (Wellington) went down 3-0 and they obviously showed great character to come back to 3-2, but saying that if we get that kind of lead over there we can-t relax and hopefully we can finish off the job.”
The Mariners enjoy a strong record against Ricki Herbert-s men with five straight wins and have won four of nine meetings between the two sides at the ‘Cake Tin’.
The NAB Young Footballer of the Year spoke of Wellington-s dangerous frontline, including Belgian international Stein Huysegems and fan favourite Paul Ifill, but is confidence his side has the capacity to claim all three points.
“He-s (Stein Huysegems) been doing pretty well banging in some goals and obviously Paul Ifill is always a danger. They (Wellington) play their best football at home but in saying that we-ve had a good record against them since the time I-ve been here and hopefully that trend can continue,” he said.
Following Sunday-s clash, Ryan will travel to Hwaseong alongside teammate Tomas Rogic for next week-s Qantas Socceroos international friendly against Korea Republic.
The young shot stopper spoke about his expectations of South Korea and what he hopes to get out of his time in camp.
“All of the Asian nations are pretty technical on the ball, they move it quick and they-ve got a fair bit of flair but we-ll just concentrate on what we-re going to do.”
“On a personal note, I-m going to go over there and learn as much as I can and see what I can learn from (Mark) Schwarzer from all of his experience and try to implement things into my game to try and make it better,” he concluded.
The star duo will return to Australia before the Mariners round 7 match against Melbourne Victory on Saturday 17 November.
Upcoming Match Information
Wellington Phoenix vs. Central Coast Mariners
Sunday 11 November, 2012
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Kick-off: 2:30pm (local); 4:30pm (AEDT)
Twitter: Join the match conversation on Twitter. The official match hash-tag is #NIXvCCM
Coverage: Live and exclusive broadcast on Fox Sports 1HD and Sky Sports 2. Updates on ABC Local Radio & Grandstand Digital. Live call on Coast FM (96.3FM or streamed: www.coastfm.org.au)
Referee: Lucien Laverdure
