CONSISTENT left back Joshua Rose believes the long break between the F3 Derby and the Mariners round 4 Hyundai A-League meeting with Melbourne Heart augurs well for a return to winning ways.
CONSISTENT left back Joshua Rose believes the long break between the F3 Derby and the Mariners round 4 Hyundai A-League meeting with Melbourne Heart augurs well for a return to winning ways for Central Coast.
The Mariners are currently amidst an eight day break between A-League matches, and Rose said the long gap between games will help ensure the team is fully prepared to take on John Aloisi-s men at AAMI Park.
“I think it definitely helps,” Rose said of the extended break. “It helps the boys recover fully and helps us work on a few things that maybe we need to work on.”
Nevertheless, Rose said that despite the disappointing, albeit controversial defeat in Newcastle, the team had taken many positives from their performance at Hunter Stadium.
“It was a disappointing result for us,” he said. “We always want to win especially against Newcastle with the derby, but straight after the game Arnie (Graham Arnold) came in and was really positive about the way we played.
“He said ‘don-t get discouraged, keep trying to play, keep passing the ball around-. We-ve just got to look at the positives and go from there.”
Rose added that any game in Melbourne is a tough one, no matter if the team is coming up against Victory or Heart.
And, he said Heart-s wide men such as Aziz Behich and Mate Dugandzic would be threats this weekend.
“Heart look quite organised under (John) Aloisi, it seems like he-s doing a good job with them,” he said. “They-ve got dangerous players out wide, big Dylan Macallister up front, so it-s definitely going to be a big battle.
“If we can get the ball down and play we know we can go there and get the three points.”
And Rose said he is buoyed by the big crowds and coverage the Hyundai A-League is currently receiving thanks to the “big-three”, as well as a good standard of football and a tightly contested competition so far.
“I think it-s fantastic,” he said of Heskey, Ono and Del Piero. “They-re bringing crowds to the games which is great for the A-League and also they look like they-re performing on the pitch well.
“They-re (Heskey and Del Piero) both putting away goals for their teams so they-re doing their job on the park as well, so I think overall it-s great for the A-League,” Rose concluded.
Melbourne Heart vs. Central Coast Mariners
Sunday 28 October – Kick-off: 3:00pm (local)
AAMI Park, Melbourne
Twitter: Follow LIVE match updates via the Central Coast Mariners official Twitter handle.
