"The boys probably need a rest. We've been going hard for five months," Hutchinson said.

"Some of us have never trained the way we've trained this year under (Arnold), which is a good thing.

"We've worked hard which has shown in the last few weeks and I think we just need a week off away from football."

After a flat display on Sunday it's hard to argue that Central Coast are in need of a freshen up, but after failing to meet Arnold Graham's expectations, it's unlikely the Mariners will get much of a vacation.

Speaking post-match, Arnold expressed a real disappointment in the performance of his playing group, yet as an experienced campaigner he wasn't about to undersell the value of any points collected on the road.

"We're happy with the result, but not with the performance," he said.

"It wasn't the intention to come here to defend, but sometimes you have those nights where players early on lose the ball or give it away cheaply and lose a bit of confidence.

"But if we didn't have the defensive structure or discipline that we showed we would have copped three tonight, so I'm happy with the point."

When the Mariners return to A-League action in two weeks time they'll face North Queensland Fury at home, and both Arnold and Hutchinson were eagerly anticipating the return to Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium, where they have earned two wins and a draw so far this season.

"At home we're playing with confidence," Arnold said.

"At Bluetongue, we're playing good football.

"Bluetongue creates a great atmosphere, and coming away from home to an empty stadium made it was a bit hard."