Rudan: There’s always something to play for

Head coach Mark Rudan on the Wanderers final matches of the season.

Get your tickets to Wednesday’s match here.

The Wanderers will play in their third-last home game of the season on Wednesday night against the Mariners and will be hoping to scrape together some points to lift themselves off the bottom of the ladder.

“You’re going to go through these types of moments as players and the learning is the most important part of it,” said Rudan.

“You can’t get too down on yourself, that’s the most important thing.

“In football, you need to move on very quickly, adversity happens and these types of moments happen.

“It’s how you come back from them which are the most important.

“That’s now going to be the test for the team heading into Wednesday.”

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 09: The Wanderers celebrate the goal by Bernie Ibini-Isei during the A-League Mens match between Western Sydney Wanderers and Brisbane Roar at CommBank Stadium, on April 09, 2022, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)

The Red & Black will be bolstered by the return of forward Ramy Najjarine and after a strong showing in training this week, the side is hopeful they can get a result against the Mariners.

“We’ve got (Ramy) Najjarine back, he was out for a couple of weeks,” explained Rudan to the media.

“He’s another one we can add to the squad as well.

“It’s tough, we came in on Sunday for our recovery session and the boys were down. That’s understandable.

“You want them to be down. You want them to feel the way they do because it’s such a passionate and emotional sport.

“They’ve been good this week and we need to turn things around very quickly and make sure their bodies are good.”

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 16: Ramy Najjarine of the Wanderers celebrates after scoring his teams first goal with Bernie Ibini-Isei of the Wanderers withduring the A-League Mens match between Adelaide United and Western Sydney Wanderers at Coopers Stadium, on March 16, 2022, in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)

Given the Wanderers current position on the ladder, Finals football seems to be just out of reach but Rudan is still adamant that the team still has plenty to play for.

“It makes it tougher, but the focus remains the same,” said Rudan.

“We have a lot of points still up for grabs and we’re going to make it extremely difficult for everyone else.

“There’s a lot of players coming
off contract so it gives me a good opportunity for me to see everything about them.

“On the ball, off the park, their mentality and attitude and sometimes you think there’s not much to play for.

“But there’s always something to play for.

“There always is, we have a service to provide our fans and our fans are very important to us.”

Western Sydney Wanderers v Central Coast Mariners
Wednesday 13 April 2022, 7:05pm
CommBank Stadium
Get your tickets here