The Mariners were the surprise story of the opening round of the A-League after coming back from a seemingly impossible 3-0 deficit to earn a memorable 3-3 draw against Perth Glory away from home.

The stunning second half fightback by Central Coast could ignite their campaign after many had written off their season as early as half-time.

Even with the positive round one result achieved in Perth, Montgomery still believed the Gosford side were capable of a finals finish.

“No one expects anything from us,” said Montgomery to FourFourTwo. “So we are putting pressure on ourselves to really go out this season and show how much we improved.

"Realistically every season you've got to aim for the top six and we are no different to any other team in the league and we’ll be aiming for that.

“This year we have brought in (Mickael) Tavares and (Jaques) Faty from Sydney who are obviously experienced players, Connor Pain from Victory, and Blake Powell who has been in the A-League before. So we’ve just added a bit more experience, we’ve still got a young squad so for me we are in a better place than last year.”

After focusing on developing young players in the previous seasons, Montgomery said the Mariners have the right mixt this campaign.

“Last year we didn’t have the right balance, we had 95% young kids and 5% experience which is not enough”, he said.

“We are not fortunate to have all the funds that a lot of these teams have got and have used very well over the offseason which is great for the A-League.

"We don’t have that luxury, but what we’ve got is young boys that have got some experience from last year and know what it takes to be a professional.

“There is no doubt we’ve got belief within the squad now and the management that if we do what is asked of us then we can compete with any team in the A-League.”