Post by radinho on Sept 14, 2007 15:55:46 GMT 10
The Central Coast Mariners chances of making it four wins from four games have been boosted by the return of Socceroo Dean Heffernan, Nik Mrdja and Olyroos keeper Danny Vukovic for their Round 4 clash against champions Melbourne Victory.
The duo were unable to take part in last weekend's 1 nil victory over the Queensland Roar at Suncorp, and whilst Vukovic played in the Olyroo's two victories, Heffernan was an unused substitute against Argentina on Tuesday.
Heffernan has a strong goal-scoring record against the Victory, having scored three times in as many games against them.
Victory strike Archie Thompson also has an enviable record against the Mariners having scored more goals than any other player against the Gosford based side in all competitive fixtures.
The Socceroo striker has scored five times against the Mariners including four in the A-League and leads the list of scorers against the Coast which include current Mariners striker Sasho Petrovski who netted four times against them for his old side Sydney FC.
"I’m after a wee bit of revenge after last year where we drew 3-3 when they only had nine men," said Mariners Football Manager Lawrie McKinna.
"If it’s anything like the 3-3 game, it’ll be a fantastic game – every game we played against the Victory last year was really tight."
"We’ll be going down there to not lose the game, when we go away from home we have to look at not losing and if we could pick up three points it’d just be an added bonus."
Sunday's game represents the ninth time the two sides have met in the A-League with the Mariners having recorded four wins, three losses and one draw in the previous eight clashes.
The atmosphere at the Telstra Dome on Sunday is sure to test the Mariners whose largest audience to watch the current league leaders was 41,689 in the inaugural Grand Final in 2006.
"When we went down there last year, there were 28,000 in the grandstands and you always hear about the crowd being the 12th man, but when we were under the pump with ten minutes to go, the crowd really got behind them and got them over the line," said McKinna.
"It does make a difference, but hopefully we can silence them early enough.
"If we can get anything out of this weekend, it would be a fantastic achievement for the players."
Central Coast Mariners Squad:
1. Matthew Trott (gk), 2. Matt Simon, 5. Bradley Porter, 6. Andre Gumprecht, 7. John Hutchinson, 8. Dean Heffernan, 9. Nik Mrdja, 10. Tom Pondeljak, 11. Damien Brown, 13. Tony Vidmar, 15. Andrew Clark, 16. Nigel Boogaard, 17. Matthew Osman, 19. Adam Kwasnik, 20. Danny Vukovic (gk), 22. Sasho Petrovski, 23. Mile Jedinak, 30. Andrew Redmayne (gk) *three to be omitted
The duo were unable to take part in last weekend's 1 nil victory over the Queensland Roar at Suncorp, and whilst Vukovic played in the Olyroo's two victories, Heffernan was an unused substitute against Argentina on Tuesday.
Heffernan has a strong goal-scoring record against the Victory, having scored three times in as many games against them.
Victory strike Archie Thompson also has an enviable record against the Mariners having scored more goals than any other player against the Gosford based side in all competitive fixtures.
The Socceroo striker has scored five times against the Mariners including four in the A-League and leads the list of scorers against the Coast which include current Mariners striker Sasho Petrovski who netted four times against them for his old side Sydney FC.
"I’m after a wee bit of revenge after last year where we drew 3-3 when they only had nine men," said Mariners Football Manager Lawrie McKinna.
"If it’s anything like the 3-3 game, it’ll be a fantastic game – every game we played against the Victory last year was really tight."
"We’ll be going down there to not lose the game, when we go away from home we have to look at not losing and if we could pick up three points it’d just be an added bonus."
Sunday's game represents the ninth time the two sides have met in the A-League with the Mariners having recorded four wins, three losses and one draw in the previous eight clashes.
The atmosphere at the Telstra Dome on Sunday is sure to test the Mariners whose largest audience to watch the current league leaders was 41,689 in the inaugural Grand Final in 2006.
"When we went down there last year, there were 28,000 in the grandstands and you always hear about the crowd being the 12th man, but when we were under the pump with ten minutes to go, the crowd really got behind them and got them over the line," said McKinna.
"It does make a difference, but hopefully we can silence them early enough.
"If we can get anything out of this weekend, it would be a fantastic achievement for the players."
Central Coast Mariners Squad:
1. Matthew Trott (gk), 2. Matt Simon, 5. Bradley Porter, 6. Andre Gumprecht, 7. John Hutchinson, 8. Dean Heffernan, 9. Nik Mrdja, 10. Tom Pondeljak, 11. Damien Brown, 13. Tony Vidmar, 15. Andrew Clark, 16. Nigel Boogaard, 17. Matthew Osman, 19. Adam Kwasnik, 20. Danny Vukovic (gk), 22. Sasho Petrovski, 23. Mile Jedinak, 30. Andrew Redmayne (gk) *three to be omitted
