The Central Coast Mariners can put the pressure right back on Perth Glory with a first home win of the season at Gosford on Friday night.
Perth broke through for a confidence-boosting win over Wellington last week after a miserable start to the season.
But Mariners coach Lawrie McKinna is confident his team can inflict another defeat on Glory at Bluetongue Stadium.
While the visitors are coming off a rare win, Central Coast had a heart-breaking 2-2 draw against Melbourne. The team was on track to score a gutsy win before Archie Thompson equalised in the final seconds.
“We’re over that now and focused on Perth,” McKinna said.
“Against Melbourne we did really well for long periods and just couldn’t finish them off. But there were plenty of positives.”
McKinna believes Perth will come to Gosford content on securing a draw.
“They’ll come and be physical and be very hard to break down in defence,” he said.
“We need to be patient and take our chances. I’m confident we can get a win.”
Defender Andrew Clark has trained this week after missing the Melbourne draw with the flu. He and versatile Brad Porter are battling for a start at right back. McKinna will make a final decision on who will get the nod on Friday.
The Mariners are in fourth place but have won only one game this season and are desperate for three points to stay in touch with co-competition leaders Sydney and Melbourrne.
Central Coast has won all four A-League matches against Perth at home and conceded just one goal.
“We’re not far off at the moment,” McKinna said.
