Skipper Alex Wilkinson has urged his Central Coast team-mates to ‘maintain the standard’ when the Hyundai A-League resumes next weekend.
The Mariners turned in one of their best performances to beat high-flying Melbourne 4-0 last week at Etihad Stadium.
It was a performance of premiership quality from the often underrated Mariners.
Now Wilkinson wants his team to show it is a genuine contender by backing up that performance with another strong showing away to North Queensland.
The Mariners are still to win back-to-back matches this season, a fact Wilkinson said must change if the team is to challenge the top side consistently.
“We played to our potential against Melbourne and didn’t have a bad player,” Wilkinson said.
“Our goal is to finish in the top two and to do that we need to keep winning. We believe we can beat any team in the competition. It’s all about consistency for us.”
“Last week was great but we need to back that up with another good performance in our next match.”
“We’re only five points behind Sydney so getting two wins in a row is important.”
Central Coast was depleted against Melbourne but is expected to have several players back for the North Queensland encounter.
Defender Chris Doig should play, while midfielder Matthew Crowell returns from suspension.
Kiwi international Michael McGlinchey missed the Melbourne win with an ankle injury. He is in the Kiwi squad for Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Bahrain in Wellington.
Mariners coach Lawrie McKinna is taking advantage of the weekend off and will be at the match.
“It would be great for the A-League if we had the Socceroos and New Zealand at the World Cup next year,” he said.
