Despite playing away from home, Central Coast Mariners midfielder Danny De Silva says his side will take the game to Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium on Saturday night.
Due to the Hyundai A-League split round, the Mariners were without a fixture over the weekend and De Silva says his side are eager to get back onto the pitch.
The Yellow & Navy have already played Adelaide twice this season where they were narrowly defeated on both occasions but the 20-year-old midfielder maestro insists that they will approach this one as if it’s a home game.
“It was nice to refresh, get the body and the mind set,” De Silva said. “After you have a few days off you start to miss football pretty quickly so we’re really excited to get back into it this weekend.
“We prepare the same. We’re a good team and we’ve played really good football this season – the only thing that’s let us down this season is the finishing and goal scoring. So, we’re focusing on scoring more goals, being really aggressive.
“They are the home team but we are going to play this one like we’re the home team,” De Silva said.
Welcome back, Painy! ?
Ins & Out for our @ALeague round 20 clash with @AdelaideUnited: https://t.co/Qrv5gIn17J #ADLvCCM #ALeague pic.twitter.com/25D1wvjsDt
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) February 15, 2018
De Silva says that the Mariners are aware of Adelaide’s quality, but full focus is on their own performance.
“Adelaide are a good team but we’re a good team as well,” De Silva said. “It’s a great surface at Coopers Stadium so it will allow us to play our football. We won’t focus on the opposition too much, we will just focus on what we can do and the rest will take care of itself,” De Silva said.
.@Mel_Mclaughlin should @CCStadium be temporarily renamed 'Graham Park' to congratulate Coastie, @MogulMattGraham on his Winter Olympic silver medal?
Full @nbnnews story ? https://t.co/vMyZ9ugFXQ#PyeongChang2018 #ALeague pic.twitter.com/S6wMl7sTXV
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) February 15, 2018
Speaking with media after Thursday’s training session at the Central Coast Mariners Centre of Excellence, De Silva urged the fans to keep the faith, saying his side will give it all to return to the Central Coast with three points.
“It’s been a while since we’ve won so it would be really nice to get those three points, we are heading into this game with a positive mentality and attitude and we will do everything we can do bring those points back home,” De Silva said.
“Our fans have been great this season, they are absolute quality. “They are always there to support us and for a player, it gives us that extra edge. I hope they can keep their faith in us, we’re going to keep working hard and try our best in every game.
“We just want to win as many games as possible now. Personally, for me I want to score more goals and help the team to more victories. It’s been an up and down season for us, so we hope to finish these last games strongly,” De Silva said.
Match Details
Saturday, 17 February 2018
Hyundai A-League Round 20
Match: Adelaide United vs. Central Coast Mariners
Venue: Coopers Stadium, Adelaide
Kick-off: 7:50pm (AEDT)
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA 501 & One
Hash-tag: Join the match conversation using #ADLvCCM & #CCMFC
