Perth Glory FC will be looking to return to winning ways and regaining top spot on the Hyundai A-League ladder, when it travels to the Central Coast to face the Mariners on Sunday.
History was made last time the two sides met at Gosford, with Glory claiming its first away victory over the Mariners in Round 5.
That win came thanks to a sublime free kick, courtesy of dead-ball specialist Nebo Marinkovic.
That was before Perth put on a masterclass at nib Stadium in December, thrashing the Mariners 4-1, with a Chris Harold brace and an audacious strike from young gun Danny De Silva.
Glory will welcome back integral playmaker, Mitch Nichols, who has served a one match ban after picking up two yellow cards against Melbourne Victory in Round 20.
“It’s good to be back this week and hopefully I can contribute. We need to be back to winning ways if we want to be pushing for the championship” Nichols said.
“I think you can tell by training everyone’s raring to go and ready to give a 100-percent and I think people know what they want now and hopefully we can go to Central Coast and get a good result and get the three points and really give it a good shot”.
The fringe Socceroo will bring some much needed flair to the Glory midfield, but Head Coach, Kenny Lowe, will be left with a few tough decisions when picking his first eleven.
Ruben Zadkovich made the most of his starting chance in midfield last weekend, scoring a cracking goal as well as proving to be a defensive rock in front of the back four.
Glory will be looking to compound the Mariners woeful home form, after losing six home matches this season – the most of any Hyundai A-League club.
Perth will also want to maintain its impressive defensive record on the road.
Glory has conceded just nine away goals this season which is the least of the 10 Hyundai A-League clubs.
With six games remaining in the regular season, Lowe says the task from here on, is simple.
“Finish high up the League as you possibly can and have some momentum rolling into finals that is utopia really”.
“If we’ve had a bit of a dip and we’re two points off the top and there’s five of us in the run there must be a few other people who’ve had dips as well, that’s the nature of the league….everybody can beat everybody”.
Star ‘keeper Danny Vukovic remains in doubt after injuring his quad following last week’s clash against Wellington Phoenix, which may result in Olyroo keeper Jack Duncan called into action.
“He’s got a little bit of a knock…we’ll see how we go” Lowe said of Vukovic.
The match kicks-off 12pm WST on Sunday, March 22.
Glory returns to nib Stadium next week to face the Asian Champions, Western Sydney Wanderers on March 28.
You can get tickets at the gate or CLICK HERE now to purchase them.
Hyundai A-League Fact #1
Perth is the best defensive team in the air, conceding just one goal via a header all season.
Hyundai A-League Fact #2
Andy Keogh has the equal most shots on target in the Hyundai A-League, tied with Marc Janko and Nathan Burns on 28.
Hyundai A-League Fact #3
Nebojsa Marinkovic continues to lead the league in chance creation with 52 this season. His next closest rival is Fahid Ben Khalfallah (Melbourne Victory) on 31.
Hyundai A-League Fact #4
Perth is undefeated when Andy Keogh scores.
Match Details
Sunday, 22 March 2015
Central Coast Mariners v Perth Glory
Central Coast Stadium, Gosford
Kick-Off: 3:00 PM (Local) (3:00 PM AEDT)
Referee: Ben Williams
Assistant Referee 1: Allyson Flynn
Assistant Referee 2: Owen Goldrick
Fourth Official: Stephen Lucas
TV Broadcast: Live and exclusive coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 3.00pm (AEDT)
Radio Broadcast: Online/ABC Radio Mobile phone app. Coast FM 96.3 (Central Coast)
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #CCMvPER
Central Coast Mariners squad : 1.Matthew NASH (gk), 3.Josh ROSE, 4.Jacob POSCOLIERO, 5.Zac ANDERSON, 6.Brent GRIFFITHS, 7.John HUTCHINSON (c), 8.Nick MONTGOMERY, 10.Anthony CACERES, 11.Nick FITZGERALD, 12.Liam REDDY (gk), 14.Travis MAJOR, 15. Mathew SIM, 16.Liam ROSE, 18.Glen TRIFIRO, 20.Anthony KALIK, 23.Isaka CERNAK, 24.Hayden MORTON, 26.Fabio FERREIRA
***two to be omitted***
Ins: 6.Brent GRIFFITHS (promoted), 16.Liam ROSE (promoted), 20.Anthony KALIK (promoted), 24. Hayden MORTON (promoted)
Outs: 2.Storm ROUX (suspended), 25.Eddy BOSNAR (suspended)
Unavailable: 17.Richard VERNES (shoulder – indefinite), 21.Michael NEILL (foot – indefinite) 19.Matt SIMON (groin – indefinite)
Perth Glory FC squad : 1.Danny VUKOVIC (gk), 5.Rostyn GRIFFITHS, 6.Dino DJULBIC, 8.Ruben ZADKOVICH, 9.Andy KEOGH, 10.Nebojsa MARINKOVIC, 11.Richard GARCIA,14.Chris Harold, 15.Jamie MACLAREN, 16.Sidnei SCIOLA, 17.Mitch NICHOLS, 18.Jack DUNCAN (gk), 19.Josh RISDON, 20.Daniel DE SILVA, 21.Scott JAMIESON, 23.Michael THWAITE (c), 27.Dragan PALJIC, 28. Denis KRAMAR
***two to be omitted***
Ins: 16.Sidnei SCIOLA (promoted),17.Mitch NICHOLS (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 7.Youssouf HERSI (hamstring – season)
