New Central Coast Mariners signing Chris Doig is no stranger to big-match pressure.
The tall defender performed on one of the sport’s biggest stages when he made his debut for Nottingham Forest against a star-studded Manchester United team as a 17-year-old in the English Premier League in 1998.
Now the former Scotland under-21 international is turning his attention to helping the Mariners recover from the toughest run of results in the club’s history.
Doig has signed a two-year deal with the coast club and joined his team for the start of pre-season training last week.
His focus now is getting fit and trying to force his way into Lawrie McKinna’s starting side for Round 1 of the Hyundai A-League against Melbourne next month.
Doig played just under 100 matches for Forest and 139 matches for Northampton Town before deciding to take up the challenge of playing in the Hyundai A-League.
He played alongside Mariners defender Pedj Bojic at Northampton and is looking forward to the challenge of helping stiffen up the Mariners defence.
“This is a massive change for me but it’s something I’m really looking forward to,” Doig said.
“I needed a fresh challenge and I was prepared to do something different.”
“Australia is a long way from home but I’m not married and don’t have kids so when this came up it was an opportunity I wanted to take.”
Having played so long in the three top leagues in England, Doig’s experience will be vital for the Mariners this season.
“I did my homework so I knew what happened at the club at the end of last season,” Doig said.
“It’s been a while since they’ve had a win but you can’t dwell on that. These things happen at all clubs.”
“This is a new season and a new start. I’ve only trained with the lads a few times but the standard is good.”
