Trent Sainsbury wants to take Socceroos place of former Mariners teammate Alex Wilkinson

THEY may be former Mariners teammates, but Trent Sainsbury wants to snatch the Socceroos’ central defensive position from World Cup incumbent Alex Wilkinson.

Trent Sainsbury training with the Socceroos at Olympic Park, Melbourne. Picture: Steve Tanner

THEY may be former Central Coast teammates, but Trent Sainsbury wants to snatch the central defensive position from World Cup defender Alex Wilkinson.

Sainsbury, 22, and Wilkinson, 30, has been coach Ange Postecoglou’s preferred defensive pairing since the World Cup, playing three games together including the last friendly against Japan.

But having recovered from ankle surgery, World Cup star Matthew Spiranovic seems certain to hold down one of the stopper’s positions despite not playing for the Socceroos since Brazil.

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Wilkinson appears to have the edge with a hamstring strain confining Sainsbury to light laps thus far but the Dutch-based defender wants to start against Kuwait on January 9.

“I want that spot to be mine, I’m not shy about saying it,’’ Sainsbury said.

“Someone’s got to sit on the bench and I don’t want it to be me.

“I want to be there for the first game and want to get those three points

“I’m about 90 per cent there (with the hamstring). I haven’t done full sprints but that’s going to come in the next couple of days so by the time we amp up training I should be good to go.

“I’m 50-50 at the moment. If the hamstring doesn’t get better in the next four or five days I’m pretty sure I won’t play, but I feel confident at the moment.

Trent Sainsbury training with the Socceroos at Olympic Park.

“Wilko and Spiro played at the World Cup together so that’s a boost for them.

“Playing in the Dutch league gives me a step up but the hamstring could set me back.”

Wilkinson benefited from pre-World Cup injuries to Curtis Good and Rhys Williams and has improved with every game on his way to 11 Socceroos caps.

And a Korean title with Jeonbuk Motors and selection in the K-League team of the season has done his confidence wonders since Brazil.

“I’m good mates with Sains, we’ve known each other a long time and I know Spira pretty well now,’’ Wilkinson said.

Alex Wilkinson faces competition from old Mariners teammate Trent Sainsbury.

“We’ll be pushing each other and hopefully we can bring out the best in all three of us.

“It gives you a bit more confidence playing in a tournament like that against the sort of players that we did play against.

“It gives you more belief in your ability and you take that confidence into games which helps you grow as a player.

“We had a great year, we won the league by about 15 points and I played a lot of games and stayed injury free.’’

Originally published as Trent Sainsbury wants to take Socceroos place of former Mariners teammate Alex Wilkinson