Wanderers players insist the presence of Luis Garcia for Central Coast won’t change their approach at all in Saturday night’s NSW derby clash in Gosford, though they’ll draw on some inside knowledge on the ex-Liverpool superstar.
Western Sydney are set to be the first side to line-up against the Mariners’ new star signing, who arrives in Australia on Thursday and is set to train for the first time with his new teammates on Friday.
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The former Liverpool and Spain international will train with his new Mariners team-mates and should he come through unscathed, is likely to be in the squad to battle the Wanderers.
Adding to the interest in the game will be the strong Spanish contingent at the Wanderers.
Asked about the possibility of taking on Garcia, Wanderers playmaker Dario Vidosic said he wasn’t concerned, more focused on turning around his side’s two-game losing streak.
“We just worry about ourselves. We’ll go there, we’ll continue playing how we play and I’m sure we’ll cause them plenty of headaches,” Vidosic told reporters on Tuesday.
“If [Garcia] does play that’s another player we’ll have plenty of knowledge about. But that’s their side and everything on their side is not really our concern like every other week.
“We’ll look at all of them and look at ways we can harm them like we did last time.”
Two members of the Wanderers coaching staff – Zeljko Kalac and Hayden Foxe – got a close-up look at Garcia during the Liverpool and Australian Legends clash in Sydney earlier this month.
They are sure to pass on a few tip to the Wanderers players about Garcia, who despite being 37 still has the ability to make a mark on the competition.
“It’s exciting. Any big name that comes to the A-League is great,” right-back Scott Neville said.
“[But] whether he’s fit to play this week or not, it won’t really bother us.
“We’ll go about our business in the usual way and focus on the way we play.”
Garcia’s likely appearance aside, this is a huge game for the Wanderers who are still stinging from the weekend’s 2-1 Sydney Derby loss to the Sky Blues.
After 10 games without a defeat, Tony Popovic’s side has lost two in a row and are keen to get back on track with three points in Gosford.
Even so, there’s no need for panic or a loss of confidence according to Vidosic, who scored a stunning goal in the loss to Sydney FC at Wanderland.
“It’s looking good and we know no trophies are won at this time of the season,” he said. “The business end is ahead. We’re geared up, we’re playing great football and we’re looking forward to it.
“I think we’re the major threat in this competition.”
The Wanderers will be without skipper Nikolai Topor-Stanley for the clash after he received his fifth yellow card of the season in the derby last weekend.
