A confident Graham Arnold said Central Coast was ready to take on the all conquering Brisbane Roar in the first leg of the A-League major semi-final at Gosford on Saturday night.
While admitting his team faces a huge task to end the Roar’s amazing unbeaten run, Arnold was full of optimism when speaking at the post match press conference following Sunday’s unconvincing 1-0 victory against the Newcastle Jets at Gosford.
Patricio Perez, who earlier missed several good chances, found the back of the net from close range after great lead up play from Mustafa Amini and Josh Rose in the 90th minute.
Arnold admitted his team will have to be more clinical to beat the Roar. The home team could have been up by three or four goals at half-time.
“The most important thing for me is that we are creating chances,” Arnold said.
“There’ll be a night when they’ll all go in, hopefully that’s next Saturday night.”
Arnold said he gave several players a chance to sit out the final preliminary round match against the Jets, but all wanted to play to keep the club’s momentum going a week out from the finals.
“Conditions weren’t easy out there, there was a strong win and lots of rain,” he said.
“One of the focuses before the game was a clean sheet and our defensiving structure.”
Veteran Mariners midfielder John Hutchinson said the playing group was determined to give the Roar a run for their money in the major semi-final.
“They’ve been the best team in the competition but we’ve got nothing to fear,” he said.
