Central Coast are adamant the pressure is all on Adelaide United as they prepare to face off for an A-League Men top-two berth.
The Mariners will face a hostile Coopers Stadium crowd on Friday night aware their fate is squarely in their own hands, while leaders Melbourne City play the Wanderers at the same time.
Adelaide (42 points goal difference, +10) lead Central Coast (41 points +17) and Western Sydney (41 points, +17), but are winless in three matches ahead of the final round of the regular season.
“For them they’re at home, the pressure’s all on them,” Mariners coach Nick Montgomery said.
“They’ve had a couple of results probably that they didn’t want at this time of the year but they’re a strong team.
“We’ll go there full of confidence and we’ll try and win the game.
Winger Sam Silvera was raring to take it up to the Reds.
“We are playing for second spot, but the focus is to go there and play our game,’ he said.
“We are locked in on the job, 100 per cent.
“We know we can go there and do well. That’s the most important thing for us, just focusing on ourselves.
“It’s a great lead-up for us into the finals.”
Adelaide United coach Carl Veart is desperate to seal a top-two spot and get the first week off after consecutive semi-final exits.
“Last year we had to play three finals games in one week and that took a lot of sting out of us,” he said.
“So it’s important this time of year, the players are starting to fatigue physically and mentally, the more rest that they can get the fresher that they are in finals games, the more chances you’ve got of having success.”
Adelaide have conceded six goals in their past three games but Veart planned to take an aggressive approach to the Mariners.
“Our mantra is to go out and score goals,” he said.
“No different tomorrow night.
“We’re setting up a plan for us to be positive and aggressive and hopefully score more goals than Central Coast.”
