Rusty Mariners rue chance

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The Central Coast Mariners may have missed an opportunity to leap-frog the Brisbane Roar into second place on the Hyundai A-League ladder, but coach Graham Arnold was quick to put the 2-0 loss down to rust, saying he couldn't fault the effort of his men.

In contrast to the Roar, who came into the match four days after playing Newcastle, the Mariners hadn't faced live action since triumphing 3-2 over the North Queensland Fury on October 2, and according to Arnold the lack of game-time was clear for all to see.

"We were rusty. We haven't played for 18 days," he said.

"It's been a long break for us and we played in fits and spurts."

"You can train them to try (and replicate) match conditions, but nothing replaces playing football.""You can try to simulate match conditions and situations, but the passing was sloppy at times, the timing of tackles was out."

Unfortunately for Central Coast, who for now retain third place on the ladder with a game in hand, it will be another 10 days until they have the chance to suit up again and get back on track.

Clearly frustrated when speaking with media in the post-match press conference, Arnold says his men are just looking forward to putting their stop-start patch behind them and settling in to some consistent football.

"We've got another bye this weekend and that's our three gone, so then we can get back into some type of rhythm and routine," said Arnold.

"Between now and Perth in Sydney we've got 10 days, so we're back on the training field working hard."

"When I saw the draw and saw this period, it wasn't a period that I was looking forward to, but that's life and you've got to get on with it."

Sure to provide a boost for Central Coast will be the return of key players, including Patricio Perez, who had been tagged as the Mariners' x-factor by Brisbane coach Ange Postecoglou in the lead-up to Wednesday night's game, but was a late withdrawal with a hamstring complaint.

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