Western Sydney Wanderers Head Coach Alen Stajcic says Saturday night’s 3–2 victory over the Central Coast Mariners has given the squad belief and momentum ahead of one of the season’s biggest matches: the Sydney Derby this Saturday night at CommBank Stadium.
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The Red & Black’s first win of the season was a hard-fought encounter, with Stajcic praising the team’s grit and resilience.
“For the players, it was so good to get the monkey off the back and get that first win up,” he said.
“We had to fight a bit and show a bit of grit and resilience. I thought we should have buried the game early but we didn’t. Central Coast are full of team culture and spirit and they keep fighting right to the end, so we didn’t want to open that door, but we did.
“Maybe a bit of luck on the handball, but we certainly let them back into the game and gave them a little bit of enthusiasm to keep going.”
The game itself was fast-paced from the outset. Within the first minute, Aidan Simmons delivered a brilliant cross, Alou Kuol’s header was saved, and Bozhidar Kraev reacted quickest to fire the rebound into the bottom corner.
Kosta Barbarouses then quickly restored the Wanderers’ lead and added a penalty in the 22nd minute, giving the home side a 3–1 advantage before Alfie McCalmont reduced the deficit with a Mariners penalty.
Stajcic emphasised that the win isn’t just about points on the board, but also about building belief and confidence as the squad heads into a high-stakes derby clash.
“Everything matters in terms of momentum, confidence and belief – all those intangible qualities that you need within a football team. No one can give them to you; you only give them to yourself when you’re performing and getting wins on the board. I’m sure that will carry into the squad,” he said.
Looking ahead, Stajcic says the focus will be on consistency and maximising the squad’s depth.
“We’ve got enough quality in this team to be dominating more of the game. We’ve been good in patches each game, but there’s still so much more in the squad.
“The depth, the quality on the bench, and the players pushing for opportunities – Ruon Tongyik, Mo Al-Taay, and some of the kids coming through, we’ve got a lot of the ingredients.
“Now it’s about putting them together for longer periods, and that’s our target moving forward.”
With confidence high and key players hitting form, the Wanderers will take the lessons from Saturday night’s thrilling win into the Sydney Derby, ready to face one of their fiercest rivals in front of a packed home crowd.
