Post by radinho on Sept 15, 2007 12:43:24 GMT 10
A-League leaders Central Coast Mariners visit defending champions Melbourne Victory on Sunday with the mentality that a point will be enough.
"The main focus is not to lose," Mariners coach Lawrie McKinna said.
"We don't want to lose but we think we can win, if that makes sense."
"If we come away from Melbourne with a draw we'll be happy but obviously we go down there thinking we can win."
The Mariners have taken a full nine points from the first three weeks of the season with wins over Sydney, Wellington and Queensland.
The Mariners have a handy four-point gap over Newcastle Jets, the only other team with a win so far, after eight of 12 matches ended in draws.
Melbourne, in contrast, stumbled to three draws and will be desperate for all three points at Telstra Dome this weekend.
"It's going to be a hard game but we're confident in what we can do," said McKinna, who welcomes back Dean Heffernan, Danny Vukovic and Bradley Porter from international duty.
"The main thing is if you win your home games and draw your away games you win the league."
"So we want to get points away from home and we've done well so far."
"I think people forget that two of our three wins this year have been away from home."
Melbourne coach Ernie Merrick will also be boosted by the return of Archie Thompson and Leigh Broxham from international duty, while Steve Pantelidis and Joseph Keenan are back from injury.
The last time the Mariners travelled to Melbourne, last November, McKinna's men threw away a 3-2 lead against nine men.
Victory striker Danny Allsopp snatched a draw in the 86th minute.
"I'm after a wee bit of revenge after last year when we drew," McKinna said, before acknowledging the big Melbourne crowds were something his players had to learn to overcome.
"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."
"When we were under the pump with ten minutes to go, the crowd really got behind them and got them over the line."
"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."
"The main focus is not to lose," Mariners coach Lawrie McKinna said.
"We don't want to lose but we think we can win, if that makes sense."
"If we come away from Melbourne with a draw we'll be happy but obviously we go down there thinking we can win."
The Mariners have taken a full nine points from the first three weeks of the season with wins over Sydney, Wellington and Queensland.
The Mariners have a handy four-point gap over Newcastle Jets, the only other team with a win so far, after eight of 12 matches ended in draws.
Melbourne, in contrast, stumbled to three draws and will be desperate for all three points at Telstra Dome this weekend.
"It's going to be a hard game but we're confident in what we can do," said McKinna, who welcomes back Dean Heffernan, Danny Vukovic and Bradley Porter from international duty.
"The main thing is if you win your home games and draw your away games you win the league."
"So we want to get points away from home and we've done well so far."
"I think people forget that two of our three wins this year have been away from home."
Melbourne coach Ernie Merrick will also be boosted by the return of Archie Thompson and Leigh Broxham from international duty, while Steve Pantelidis and Joseph Keenan are back from injury.
The last time the Mariners travelled to Melbourne, last November, McKinna's men threw away a 3-2 lead against nine men.
Victory striker Danny Allsopp snatched a draw in the 86th minute.
"I'm after a wee bit of revenge after last year when we drew," McKinna said, before acknowledging the big Melbourne crowds were something his players had to learn to overcome.
"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."
"When we were under the pump with ten minutes to go, the crowd really got behind them and got them over the line."
"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."
