Central Coast Mariners fullback Josh Rose is expecting a “battle” against an undefeated Perth Glory outfit at Bluetongue Stadium tomorrow evening.
Central Coast Mariners fullback Josh Rose is expecting a “battle” against an undefeated Perth Glory outfit at Bluetongue Stadium tomorrow evening.
Having spent Monday and Tuesday in his first National Team camp, Rose returned to the club on Wednesday and has since turned his attention to a sound team performance against a hot Glory side this weekend.
“We-re preparing for a battle,” Rose said. “They-re sitting on top of the table so obviously you always want to beat the teams at the top.”
“We-re just trying to stay positive and trying to get back to the football we were playing last year. We know if we can produce that then we-ll get the three points,” he said.
While admitting there are many potential threats in Ian Ferguson-s team, Rose pinpointed arguably the league-s best striker, Shane Smeltz, as Perth-s main danger man.
The former Wellington Phoenix and Gold Coast United marksman has scored three goals in his past two outings, and Rose knows he and his fellow defenders will need to be on their toes “and ready for anything” when he-s on the ball.
“Smeltzy-s always dangerous around the box so we-ve got to be careful,” he said. “We-ve just got to try and limit how much he gets of the ball.”
Rose said Mariners boss Graham Arnold hadn-t tinkered with his approach for the Glory match.
“He-s not changing anything at the moment, he-s just trying to keep positive and get the boys working a lot harder,” Rose said.
“Obviously, we-re looking at it as though we-ve got to make things happen and that-s just going to be done simply by hard work, so we-ve got to put the work in when we cross that line.”
And, after his first taste of the green and gold during this week-s combined Qantas Socceroos and Qantas Olyroos camp held in Sydney, Rose said he is itching to improve upon his own start to the 2011/12 Hyundai A-League season to ensure he gets further opportunities at National Team level.
“Overall, I really enjoyed the experience,” Rose said.
“All the boys were great, Holger [Osieck] was very easy to talk to, so hopefully I can turn my form around on the field and get more chances.”
Central Coast Mariners vs. Perth Glory
Saturday 29 October – Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
Kick-Off: 5:30pm (AEDT)
Tickets: Please CLICK HERE to purchase tickets to the match.
Twitter: Follow LIVE match updates at www.twitter.com/CCMariners + join the conversation using the official match hashtag #HALccmpgfc
