History and form suggests Central Coast Mariners face an uphill battle in Perth on Sunday but that has not fazed Mike Mulvey's side, with Andrew Hoole insisting there was "plenty of confidence" among the squad.
The Mariners have not won any of their last 12 away clashes, while Perth Glory have not lost in seven home fixtures against the Gosford-based side.
But while Hoole acknowledged that table-toppers Glory have started well, he said things remained positive and upbeat at the Mariners despite a winless start to the 2018/19 Season.
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“We’re looking forward to it,” he said ahead of Sunday evening's clash that will close out rebel Female Football Round.
“And there’s plenty of confidence. We’re confident all the time, even though we’ve not had good results.
“Obviously they’re at the top of the league, so they’re a completely different team to the last couple of years under ‘Popa’ [Glory coach Tony Popovic].
“It will be a very tough game but one we’re looking forward to and if we go there with confidence and, you know, take the mistakes out of our games that we’ve had in the first couple of rounds, then we can do a good job over there.”
Hoole returned in Round 3 from a foot problem that kept him sidelined for 10 weeks.
He said it was “so good to be back playing again” and added that it was important that Central Coast kept focused on themselves - rather than Perth.
“You can’t focus on them too much, even though they are at the top,” he said.
“It’s one of them games, where if you focus too much on the opposition it can be a downfall … we need to make sure we’re focused on ourselves, which we are.”
Hoole also backed star striker Ross McCormack to come good, insisting that the Scotsman needed the right service if he was to find his scoring touch.
“We need to make sure that the service to him is good," he said.
"He’s shown in the past, and everyone knows, that if you put the ball into good areas, that he’ll be there and he can score goals for sure.
"He’s a player that we need to get really firing but it’s only early days. He’ll find his feet.”
