Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic has confirmed under-fire goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne will start against Central Coast Mariners.
Redmayne was a key figure in Newcastle Jets’ comeback to draw 2-2 with the Wanderers last week.
Jets fightback to draw with Wanderers
The 27-year-old came off his line in the 81st minute but failed to get to a cross that Nigel Boogaard headed into the net, while seven minutes’ later Andrew Hoole’s free-kick squeezed under Redmayne to deny Western Sydney victory.
The two blunders weren’t Redmayne’s first this season, with the ex-Mariners youth player parrying a shot to Alex Brosque’s feet in the Wanderers’ 4-0 Sydney derby defeat in Round 1.
But Popovic has no plans to replace Redmayne with Jerrad Tyson when the Wanderers host Central Coast on Saturday.
When asked “will Andrew Redmayne start tomorrow?” on Friday, Popovic replied: “Yes.”
Later in the press conference, Popovic was asked “is his [Redmayne’s] form a concern to you?” and responded: “No.”
Western Sydney’s boss added: “We didn’t talk specifically to him [Redmayne]. I think I mentioned after the game, we were more interested in how we got to that stage that we put ourselves under pressure, and how it got to the stage that we gave two free-kicks away on the edge of the box.
“If you have a look at both instances, we had the ball prior to that.
“So we have to do better with the ball when we’re not under pressure because on both goals we were under no pressure and we gave the ball away, and then the mistake happens after that.
“But we need to correct the first part [then] the second part won’t happen.”
Popovic will come up against a former Socceroos team-mate in Paul Okon at Spotless Stadium and claimed Central Coast’s boss always seemed an obvious future coach.
“He was a real thinker of the game… the understanding he had of the game and the way he played, and the experience he had in the countries that he’s played in, there was always a strong possibility he’d get involved in coaching,” Popovic said.
