Despite missing his two most influential players in captain Lachie Scott and "best left-fullback in the league" Walter Scott, Wollongong Wolves coach David Carney remains confident in his youthful squad's ability to mix it with the competition's best.
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Carney feels his chargers can get back to winning ways on Saturday and beat St George City if the Wolves concentrate on what they do best and cut out cheap turnovers which have cost the team dearly in recent weeks, including the last-start 3-1 home loss to Rockdale City Suns.
Wollongong have won two, drawn two and lost two games heading into their round seven NPL NSW clash against St George City at Penshurst Park
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Carney has lamented his team's lack of consistency during this time and their inability to hold onto possession long enough, but feels the 10th-place Wolves have the quality to beat the sixth-placed St George in their own backyard.
"They play a five at the back but they like to play good football but there are definitely areas where we can expose them but again we just have to be ready to play," the coach said.
"It is a tight [synthetic] pitch, so we are going to have to be up for the battle first and foremost but I think the way we play and our style could maybe suit playing against them. We will find out tomorrow if that's true."
Carney added for the most part, the Wolves attractive style of play of bombing fullbacks and playing combinations in pockets worked a treat. But he feared when it didn't work teams capitalised and punished Wollongong on the scoreboard.
"I think we can do well with our ball possession but I just think a lot of the combination plays and the goals that we've scored have been brilliant but then the goals we conceded are because of our turnovers and that is something we really talked about this week. We've worked hard on trying to improve that," he said.
Walter Scott, who was forced off with a knee ligament injury early against Rockdale, will join his captain on the sidelines for the St George match, much to the displeasure of Carney.
"It is a really hard one to take that one because Walter has been, considering the way we like to play with fullbacks bombing on, Walter has definitely got the engine to do that and for me he is the best left-back in the league and it is disappointing to lose him," he said.
"But in saying that young Senna [Stephenson] stepped in and done brilliantly, as did our other 19-year-old, centre-back Harrison[Buesnel].
"The young ones are stepping up and that is encouraging. I'm happy to play the kids if they are up for it. So far they have stepped up."
Meantime, Illawarra Stingrays host rivals Manly United on Sunday at 5pm.
It comes after a youthful Stingrays kicked off their NPL NSW campaign last week with a heartbreaking loss to Northern Tigers, conceding three goals in the final 10 minutes of their first game of the season.
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
