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Central Coast joined a handful of A-League title fancies drawing early-season blanks after slumping to a 1-0 defeat to local rivals Newcastle on Sunday.
Jeremy Brockie’s goal saw last season’s grand finalists suffer a second loss from their opening three games, with their only point so far coming via a last-gasp equaliser in last week’s 1-1 draw with Gold Coast.
While many tipped the Mariners to again be challenging Brisbane Roar for the title this season, they have joined the likes of fellow fancies Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United in making slow starts in 2011/12.
Coach Graham Arnold must now dig his side out of its early-season funk and is eagerly awaiting the return of captain Alex Wilkinson (hand) and Mustafa Amini (groin) from injury in the coming weeks.
Both could be in line to return against Perth Glory at Bluetongue Stadium next week but Arnold stressed the key to returning to form was simple.
“At the end of day you make your own luck and that starts with hard work on the training field,” Arnold said.
“The boys are disappointed today but I saw a lot of positives to come out of it compared to last week’s performance to Gold Coast and a lot of that was down to the hard we did on the training paddock this week.
“It’s only three games and the most important thing is the process, the big picture is the season.
“We’ll just get back on the training field, stay positive, work hard, and go from there.”
The Mariners are from from the only ones under pressure, with Melbourne Victory and their star recruit Harry Kewell also feeling the heat after a disappointing scoreless draw with cross-town rivals Melbourne Heart on Saturday night.
The side’s star-studded attack has now gone four-and-a-half hours without scoring a goal but rookie coach Mehmet Durakovic has pleaded for patience as he attempts to work the Socceroos star into his system.
“Harry’s still not 100 per cent fit, not match fit,” said Durakovic, who has kept Kewell on the field for the entire 90 minutes in all three matches so far.
“He’ll get better and better, and he’ll be the first one to admit that … just give him a couple of games.
“We’ve got a few new players – Harry’s come into the structure – that will take time.”
Fellow big name A-League recruit Brett Emerton, though, produced a slightly-improved showing as Sydney FC earned their first win of the season 2-1 away to Adelaide on Saturday night.
It was a second successive defeat for the Reds, who many were tipping as the team to beat prior to the start of the season.
Brisbane Roar have had no such troubles living up to their reputation so far, maintaining the perfect start to the season and stretching their unbeaten run to 31 games with a 3-0 win over Gold Coast on Friday night.
In Sunday’s late match, Perth marquee man Shane Smeltz scored his third goal of the season to inspire the Glory to a 1-0 victory over Wellington Phoenix at nib Stadium.
Smeltz, who bagged a double last week, latched on to the end of a beautiful set-piece play to send home the winner in the 33rd minute, lifting the unbeaten Glory to equal top of the table with fellow pacesetters Brisbane.
Wellington ended the match with 10 men after defender Manny Muscat was shown a second yellow card in the 93rd minute.
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