Hyundai A-League head coach Jean-Paul de Marigny (JP) spoke to the media on Friday morning ahead of the Wanderers first match of the season restart against the Mariners.
For JP and the Wanderers, it’s finally starting to sink in that they will be back in action come Monday night in Gosford after over three months off due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“We’re all excited for Monday. The players are now realising it’s getting closer and they’ve been watching some of the games,” said JP.
“The players are right up there at the moment. It’s about getting the rust out from the players, getting thier mentality right and their physicality right.”
The Red & Black who were originally set to face the Victory this week had a fixture swap, giving them an additional week to prepare for their first match of the restart.
“We saw the change in the fixtures as an opportunity. We looked at it as a positive, our mindset is to be ready for the games,” explained JP.
“I think every team is in the same boat. Starting well is important.
“So we’ll be looking forward to that and the more we play, the better we will get.”
JP also provided an update on how some of the players in the squad were tracking ahead of the clash against the Mariners on Monday night.
“Playing in winter is helping the players. You can see the ball speed is a lot quicker, the players can play high tempo football when they need it,” said JP.
“Kwame (Yeboah) has pulled up a little bit sore but we will give him enough time as possible.
“Pirmin (Schwegler) is doing well and is now doing football-aspecific training.
“At the moment, (Nick) Suman is doing well coming back from injury and he is a great young goalkeeper. But we are looking at potentially Tristan (Prendergast) starting.”
