After another heartbreaking last gasp loss away to Adelaide United this past weekend, Central Coast Mariners return to Central Coast Stadium after four weeks away from Gosford to face Brisbane Roar on Saturday.
The Yellow and Navy are coming off a 2-1 loss at Coopers Stadium to the hands of Adelaide United despite dominating much of the match and creating enough chances to win the game.
The Roar are currently sitting equal bottom of the Isuzu UTE A-League Men’s ladder and will be desperate to climb off the foot of the table and rise above the Mariners on Saturday afternoon and have enjoyed a good run of results at Central Coast Stadium as they have not lost the previous five games contested at Gosford.
However, the Queensland based club haven’t won many of their own games in recent times as they last defeated Macarthur FC 3-1 on the 13th of February.
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Speaking to media before the match, Nick Montgomery was confident that luck would turn the way of the Mariners eventually.
“We’re halfway through the season, we’ve reached the FFA Cup Final and that’s a great achievement. Any team in the league can get in the top six.
“One thing I know about football is that you can have a bit of bad luck at times and you hope that that turns. We’re definitely due a little bit but we just need to concentrate on ourselves, keep putting the performances in and I’ve no doubt that the results are going to come.”
Turning it around is exactly what the Yellow and Navy want to do this Saturday against the Roar and three points could be exactly what they need to light the spark which relaunches the Mariners season.
So, who are the key players to keep an eye on this coming Saturday?
Jason Cummings, (Central Coast Mariners)
How could we not include the 26-year-old Striker?
This Sunday will see Cummings 7th appearance for the Yellow and Navy so far in his short stay in Australia and he has been nothing short of extremely impressive in the six games he has featured in.
The 26-year-old netted on debut against Sydney FC on the 30th of January as his efforts to twist and turn away from the Sky Blues defence saw the former Rangers attacker given enough space to launch his shot straight into the Sydney goal.
He has furthered the Mariners attack and given the side a vital boost in front-third situations, with his quick runs and hold-up play up top allowing players such as Béni Nkokolo to thrive off the Scotsman’s play for the Yellow and Navy.
Cummings has been also impressive in his ability to find his teammates, with the former Hibs attacker having over 80% of his passes to teammates being accurate per game, all while providing an assist for Nkokolo’s second goal of the season against Adelaide United.
Nikola Milusenic (Brisbane Roar)
Milusenic has been one of the Roar’s most impressive players so far this season with the 28-year-old netting five goals in 11 games for the Queensland based club.
Despite being on target for five goals, he has also missed five big goal scoring opportunities this season so far and will be desperate to not miss another big goal chance this coming game.
However, the winger has found the back of the net every 160 minutes and the Central Coast defence will be looking to keep the Australian quiet when they are pitted against each other this Saturday afternoon.
Match Details
Central Coast Mariners v Brisbane Roar
Isuzu UTE A-League Men’s MW17
Saturday 5th March 2022
Kick Off: 5:05pm
Central Coast Stadium, Gosford, NSW
Tickets: Here
