Central Coast Mariners look to end poor form against Perth Glory

WHEN their team loses, fans can boo or simply turn the TV off. But players have to keep pushing through til it gets better. And that’s the message from the Mariners this week.

GOSFORD, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 03: Nick Fitzgerald of the Mariners looks dejected after Melbourne City score a goal and celebrate in the back ground during the round nine A-League match between the Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne City FC at Central Coast Stadium on December 3, 2015 in Gosford, Australia. (Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)

SOMETIMES it’s easy to forget why we love sport. Amid the heartache of losing, fans can complain, boo, not turn up or simply turn the TV off.

But when you’re a player, there’s no turning away. No matter the results or how low you form gets, you’ve just got to keep pushing through until it gets better.

That’s the message from the Central Coast Mariners camp this week.

Nine games without a win and second from bottom of the ladder, the Mariners head to Perth this week for an anxious clash with last-placed Glory — lose and the Gosford outfit will replace the West Australians at the floor of the competition.

Mariners defender Josh Rose knows what’s at stake — there is no hiding after a run of results like this — but the fullback says his teammates have to keep their heads up and push on regardless.

“It’s always tough when things aren’t going your way and we’ve definitely had a rough trot. But the boys in the dressing room are pretty positive,” Rose told The Daily Telegraph.

“Perth is always tough, it’s a long flight — but it’s probably good for us to get as far away as possible. It’s good for a couple of days for the boys to get together and have a few meetings, so hopefully it will work in our favour.

“It will be tense — we’re both striving for that victory so it should make for a great game.”

Looking on the bright side doesn’t mean ignoring the problems, however, and coach Tony Walmsley last week held an early season review to identify the areas the team must improve on to bag that much-needed confidence-boosting win — and despite the travel, Perth are

And even in the aftermath of the 5-1 home defeat to Melbourne City, Rose said there were lessons to be found.

Mariner Nick Fitzgerald looks dejected after Melbourne City score another goal.

“Tony’s definitely a realist. We had a meeting the other day and analysed our first nine rounds and although we’ve definitely got to improve on a few things that he wasn’t happy with he was pleasantly surprised with a few of the stats being in our favour.

“Even the City game, I think for the first 20 minutes we played some great football but we couldn’t get that goal then all of a sudden we were one-nil down and we dropped from there. We’ve just got to keep plugging away and hopefully it turns around. When we do go down we can’t keep dropping.

“Self-belief consistency are both massive things in football. It’s about sticking to what we believe in. We’ve got to stick at it and hopefully the self-belief will come back.”

Originally published as Central Coast Mariners look to end poor form against Perth Glory