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Central Coast Mariners coach Lawrie McKinna is hoping some Christmas cheer will help his players end their recent slump in form.
After Wednesday’s 1-0 A-league loss to Sydney FC at the Sydney Football Stadium, the Mariners have now lost a club record four regular season matches in a row and are in danger of slipping out of the competition’s top six.
With no game until New Year’s Eve, the Mariners could find themselves as low as eighth when they host Wellington Phoenix at Bluetongue Stadium.
It’s a long way from just over a month ago when the Gosford-based team pummelled league leaders Melbourne 4-0 and North Queensland 5-1 in successive matches.
Since then they’ve managed just one draw and the four straight losses, leaving McKinna to urge his players to make the most of their Christmas break.
“We’ve got a long break now and we’ll say to the boys ‘go and have a good Christmas, come back and we all want smiles on your face so you’re looking forward to that next game’,” McKinna said.
“No dwelling on the fact we got beat again, we’re looking forward to the positives – a big crowd at home on New Year’s Eve, the supporters were fantastic (on Wednesday), and we want to give them something to cheer at Bluetongue.
“We reward them with three points and then we can build that momentum up that we’ve lost.”
McKinna also said the fact his team could be out of the finals spots by the time they next take to the field doesn’t faze him.
“It’s out of our hands for the next round,” he said. “For four weeks now we probably feel we’ve deserved two wins and two draws and we’ve got nothing.
“We can’t dwell on it anymore we need to focus on the New Year’s Eve game against Wellington.
“As it’s been shown in the league you win a few games and then you can go anywhere and that’s all we’ll be focusing on.”
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