Central Coast Mariners handed out a 3-0 beating to their rivals in Canberra at the weekend and Kwasnik, who was among the scorers, believes it has provided his team with a huge psychological boost.

The two sides meet in the opening fixture of the A-League season and Kwasnik trusts the Canberra meeting will be playing on Sydney minds when the two teams meet again.

And although Kwasnik’s goal pushed him to the top of the Mariners’ Pre-Season Cup scoring charts, it isn’t a statistic that particularly interests him.

He said: “Obviously Sydney weren’t at full strength for the game but then neither were we.

“We scored three good goals to win the game and it was nice to be among the scorers myself.

“I just hope I can take that form into the A-League season. You can talk about my Pre-Season Cup goals record but it’s the goals during the season that really count.”

And while form in pre-season does not always guarantee success in the challenges that follow, Kwasnik is happy to take as many positives as possible.

He said: “Hopefully the 3-0 win has given us the upper hand over them (Sydney) as possible and that both teams remember Canberra when we next meet.

“You are always looking for an edge over the opposition.”

Last week, Mariners coach Lawrie McKinna spoke about the club’s approach to adversity and it seems he has a fellow believer in Kwasnik.

McKinna had said: “We’re not ones to make excuses. We just go about our business. When some of the other teams have two or three boys missing it’s a major crisis. We don’t dramatise things like other people do.”

In Sydney’s case to be fair, it is more than two or three players missing and they are faced with losing two key players but Kwasnik is well aware of the problems.

He said: “I think you’ve just got to get on with it rather than whinging about it. In the papers and stuff. Behind closed doors you can have a whinge about things but every team has problems.”

However, despite all the injuries at Mariners’ rivals, Kwasnik believes anyone writing off Sydney’s A-League chances is foolish.

He said: “They have some very good players in their squad and they will be up there challenging at the end of the season.”

In that same interview for au.fourfourtwo.com, McKinna highlighted a lack of recognition for his players – picking out Kwasnik as an example.

The player himself is modest regarding accolades. He said: “It’s nice to get recognition, but to be honest it’s about doing a job for the team and helping the team get results.”

Kwasnik and company will attempt to qualify for their third successive Pre-Season Cup final on Saturday when they entertain Perth Glory at Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium (6pm).