It'll be good to see Fergie (Ian Ferguson) and Stewart Petrie coming back, to the club, Stewart was here for two years and Fergie was here for four, and were big parts of the history of the club, and it will be great catching up with them at the weekend. Before the game we'll have a hug and after the game we'll have a hug, but we'll probably be abusing each other during the game!" Lawrie McKinna laughed.
 
"When we played up in Rockhampton in pre-season it was strange, he being on the other bench. It was only a few months before that we were shouting the same stuff from our bench. It was good afterwards, and it's always good to see old pals, so I'm looking forward to catching up with him after the game."
 
North Queensland may be rooted to the bottom of the A-League ladder after nine rounds, but are ever improving, and took a point from one of the longest road trips in domestic football worldwide, a 1-1 draw in Perth.
 
"Going to Perth and getting any result is hard, but getting it with ten men for so long was a credit to them. They were probably a bit lucky with the goal they got, it was probably a free kick, but they took it, and credit to them.
 
"They've been picking up results over the last couple of months and doing alright, so they're going to be hard to break down," said McKinna.
 
The two teams have met once before albeit in a pre-season trial with both sets of squads laden with trialists. Even so, McKinna is aware of what to expect from Sunday's opponents.
 
"We have to go into the game at the weekend with a competitive edge, because the Fury are quite physical. We played them in pre-season and it was a very physical game, so we need to match them in that side of it.
 
"They've been playing some good football, and so have we, so hopefully we can beat them over the 90 minutes," said McKinna.
 
If Fury are to get a result in Gosford, one man is sure to play a major part. Robbie Fowler is arguably the greatest talent to grace the A-League in its five seasons to date, with an enviable record of 230 goals in over 500 appearances during a 16 year professional career in the United Kingdom.
 
"His record, especially at Liverpool is second to none, and he's out here and doing well. For boys like that to come out here and put something back into the game is great, and hopefully as many people as they can get out here, even non football people have heard of Robbie Fowler for all the good things - and a couple of bad things - I'm sure there will be a lot of Liverpool shirts in the crowd showing respect to the guy.
 
"They've got more than Fowler in the team, big (Daniel) McBreen is doing well, but it will be great for (the Mariners' defenders) to come up and rub shoulders against him and hopefully keep a clean sheet at Bluetongue," McKinna said.
 
After failing to trouble the scorers in their past two away matches, the Mariners return home for the first time since putting three past league leader Gold Coast United, and welcome back striker Matt Simon, who will be out to impress after shoring up his future this week, by signing on with the Mariners for a further two seasons.
 
"Matty will be back. Dylan Macallister and Nik Mrdja have picked up little knocks but Matt Simon is definitely back. We're obviously going to be without (Michael) McGlinchey and (John) Hutchinson, which opens the door for a few other midfielders, so we'll restructure things and have a go at the weekend.
 
"Shane Huke is back from injury now as well, (Matthew) Crowell's there, (Brad) Porter's there and Ahmad (Elrich) is there so we've got plenty of cover," McKinna said.

Skipper Alex Wilkinson is another desperate for a big game on Sunday.

He said the team is keen to make up for a disappointing performance against Sydney.

Wilkinson said the team was ready for the challenge, especially against Fowler.

"As a defender it's fantastic to test yourself against great players, we'll be ready,'' he said.

"He's a superstar, a massive name in the game but on Sunday he's just another opponent we need to get on top of.''

As for the opposition, Ian Ferguson is relishing the trip back to very familiar territory.

Ferguson knows the first-up meeting between the two teams will present a few challenges for his squad, mostly because of time the Mariners core group of players has spent together.

"They battle they're always in your face and that's the kind of team they are," Ferguson said.

"I do know how a lot of them play as I said they will be difficult for us because, they're well organised and they have been together more or less a lot of them for four years."

Ferguson has had his share of selection headaches this week with Socceroo Shane Stefanutto out with a season-ending knee injury and Ufuk Talay suspended for a week.

He's had to call on his more experienced players to take on the Mariners in a game he believes the Fury will again have to dig deep for a result.

"I think it will be an open and entertaining game and I think there will be goals in it but hopefully they will be at the Mariner's end," Ferguson said.

"I'm looking for more of that experience. I'm looking for the older players to come in now and we'll just try to get through this with them and see how we go."

"We're creating a lot of chances but we not putting it in the net look if we weren't be creating chances I would be worried but we are creating the chances and one day - hopefully it's going to be Sunday - they're going to go in the net."

While Ferguson  admits his captain Robbie Fowler hasn't been able to reproduce the form that earned him three consecutive goals of the week in the past two matches, the Fury Coach isn't about to panic.

"That's going to happen. Every player is going to take a little slump in form," Ferguson said.

"Robbie's the type of player he could be quiet for 89 minutes and pop up with a goal in the 90th minute ... he's definitely a player I would never ever underestimate."

Ferguson has opted to push seasoned campaigner Robbie Middleby into the back four at the expense of youngster Jack Hingert.

While the defender has been solid in his last two outings, the Fury coach is wary of the Central Coast's Matt Simon and Dylan Macallister.

"I'm looking to sure that up (the Fury's defence) because they've got such big units up there as well and they're quick down the wings as well so hopefully we can sure that up in the back four with the experience we've got," Ferguson said.

Middleby shared his coach's wariness of the Mariner's attacking options, but also sent a reminder that the Fury are ready to put up a fight.

"They're a tough team. Every year they are up there and they are going to be very hard to beat but we've matched it with the best teams in the competition and we're going there pretty confident," Middleby said.

"There's definitely good spirit and the big thing was the test of character last week with ten men and Perth were vying for top spot."

"To show that character I think shows a lot of camaraderie in the team and I think that's a big thing  and a catalyst to go well in the season and really this league and how t teams are - get a couple of wins and you're right up there and that's what we're aiming to do."