SQUAD NEWS: Victory vs. Mariners

It’s our final fixture of the season and Paul Okon has named an extended squad ahead of the Mariners Good Friday clash against Melbourne Victory.

After an impressive performance against the Newcastle Jets the Central Coast Mariners will be looking to finish the season on a high with a win over second placed Melbourne Victory.

Finishing their final training session at the Central Coast Mariners Centre of Excellence today, the Mariners are faced with the task of locking down eighth spot and creating plenty of space between themselves and the cellar dwelling Jets and Adelaide United.

After featuring in two consecutive match day squads, Entrance Bateau Bay junior Steve Whyte remains up for selection alongside exciting Terrigal junior, Lachlan Wales.

Central Coast Mariners Assistant Coach Ivan Jolic said the squad was satistied with their win over the Jets but the challenge is backing that win up with a repeat performance against Victory.

“We invested a hell of a lot into the game not only last week but the season as a whole,” Jolic said. “We’ve now got a game to go, we don’t want to let ourselves down as a group and we now face a terrific challenge to come off such an emotional high and back it up against one of the best teams in the competition.

“No-one wants the burden of the wooden spoon, our club has had a disappointing couple of seasons but we genuinely believe that the ladder isn’t indicative of our efforts through out the course of the year.

“Knowing Kevin Muscat, he’s a fierce competitor – they have a week off leading into their major semifinal so this is his players’ opportunity to put their hand up to play in that fixture. I think they will put their best team out, they will really want to go into the finals campaign on a high.

“The message is simple, we’ve got one game to go, the season didn’t end last week. We don’t want to undo the good work and positive sense of energy that came out of last week with a poor performance in Melbourne. We’re a proud group and the challenge is to get up emotionally and physically for one more game. We think we can do it and Friday will be the test,” Jolic said.

Central Coast Mariners Squad: 1.Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 2.Storm ROUX,  3.Scott GALLOWAY, 5.Harry ASCROFT, 7.Fabio FERREIRA, 8.Nick MONTGOMERY (c), 9.Roy O’DONOVAN,  11.Connor PAIN, 12.Trent BUHAGIAR, 13.Kwabena APPIAH, 14.Adam BERRY, 16.Liam ROSE, 17.Josh BINGHAM, 20.Paul IZZO (gk), 21.Michael NEILL, 22.Jake McGING, 26.Steve WHYTE, 27.Lachlan WALES
***Two to be omitted***  

Ins:  22.Jake McGING (promoted), 27.Lachlan WALES (promoted) 

Outs: nil

Unavailable: 6.Blake POWELL (knee injury – 3 weeks), 10.Mickael TAVARES (ankle injury – indefinite), 23.Jake ADELSON (ACL – indefinite)

Hyundai A-League 2016/17 Round 27
Melbourne Victory vs. Central Coast Mariners
Friday 14 April 2017
Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Kick-off: 7:50pm
Social Media: #MVCvCCM #CCMFC