The Central Coast Mariners are preparing for a pre-season hit out with the Newcastle Jets and John Hutchinson is not treating it as a friendly.

Despite being labelled a ‘pre-season friendly’ ‘Hutch’ insists that the game against Newcastle provides the perfect opportunity for the Central Coast Mariners to build confidence after a challenging week.

Speaking before the team ventured North-West to Tamworth on Friday afternoon, Hutchinson spoke with ccmariners.com.au about using this fixture as a way to ‘break the cycle’ and record a positive result.

“First and foremost it’s a friendly so we don’t want to incur any injuries but the main aim is to break the cycle that’s been happening at this club,” Hutchinson said. “We need a clean sheet and we would love to win the game.

“It’s been a really tough week for the players but we need to make sure we concentrate on the game and this game provides a great opportunity for our players to show that they are good footballers and that Green Gully was just a pre-season hiccup.

“We need to start winning football games and this is one of the games we need to win.

“The boys are going good, pre-season is well underway now and we’ve done a lot of work this week in preparation for the Newcastle game.

“I hope I haven’t pushed them too hard but I’m looking forward to seeing how they bounce back from a really tough week and I want to see a reaction,” Hutchinson said.

Match details
Newcastle Jets vs. Central Coast Mariners
Scully Park Regional Sporting Precinct, Tamworth
Kick-off: 4pm
Hash-tag: #F3Derby
Tickets: CLICK HERE