Central Coast will be without its three star strikers when the Mariners battle to regain some Asian Champions League pride at Gosford on Tuesday night.
Dylan Macallister (shoulder), Matt Simon (knee) and Nik Mrdja (hamstring) are all out of the club’s final Champions League match against Tianjin Teda at Bluetongue Stadium.
The match is a dead rubber with both teams out of contention to reach the competition’s knockout phase.
But the Mariners, despite playing without three of their best attackers, will go out with an attacking mindset, desperate to finish their first title at Champions League glory on a high.
Coach Lawrie McKinna is expected to start with Adam Kwasnik and Adrian Caceres up front against the Chinese club.
The teams had a 2-2 draw when they met earlier in the competition.
“We’ll have to try a few new things with the three strikers out,” McKinna said.
“Adam is a natural striker and Adrian also likes to push forward so I’m confident they’ll do a job together. Scoring goals hasn’t been a problem for us throughout the Champions League.”
Kwasnik will head into the match in confident fashion. After a steady start to his second stint at the club Kwasnik was at his attacking best as the club suffered a last-start defeat against the Pohang Steelers.
He finished with two goals and will be looking to add to his Champions League tally in front of Central Coast’s home fans.
Caceres missed the defeat against Pohang but has been training strongly. The former Perth and Melbourne player has not been at his best in recent outings but is one of the club’s best attacking weapons when in top form.
