COURIER MAIL
By: David Davutovic
THE fitness of grand final specialist Tom Pondeljak, and perhaps Central Coast Mariners' title hopes, hang in the balance on the eve of tomorrow's A-League grand final against Newcastle Jets.
Pondeljak is rated a "45-55" chance of playing after joining in Mariners training for the first time yesterday, although he was left out of the starting XI – indicating, even if fit, he may be relegated to the bench.
The attacking midfielder, who has played in five NSL and A-League grand finals – and won three – will be monitored during today's final training run, an hour-long hit-out at Bluetongue Stadium, before a final call is made by coach Lawrie McKinna.
Pondeljak played in a 25-minute scratch match, although he lined up for the second XI, with out-of-favour German Andre Gumprecht slotting into his right wing position.
"He's still got a good chance of being in the squad," McKinna said.
"Tom is a big-game player, played in a lot of grand finals, been in great form and we've always stated that boys have to train the day before a game.
"We didn't think he would be ready but now we're optimistic. It went from 70-30 against, to 60-40 against, or 45-55. If he gets through 100 per cent, we will still consider him for the starting line-up.
"On Thursday he went at about 80 per cent, and today he got through all the sprints in the warm-up.
"So he went near full pelt, probably 90-95 per cent, and he was reasonably chirpy afterwards.
"He did everything but the free kicks and corners at the end."
McKinna is still considering Greg Owens for the wide right position if the veteran is ruled out.
The coach said he would not take any risks with Pondeljak.
"If he was going to start, we would want 90 minutes out of him," he said.
"If he was on the bench, he would have to come on and last the game, even if it was after 30 minutes.
"We're not going to take any risks. We have to be 100 per cent sure he will be able to get through what is required."
McKinna rejected claims by Newcastle coach Gary van Egmond that the Jets had the momentum going into tomorrow's grand final at Sydney Football Stadium.
He said with five players carrying injuries after the semi-final win over the Jets, they needed the week off.
Veteran defender Tony Vidmar, preparing for his final game before retirement, hasurged his teammates to keep the 48 hours before the match "as normal as possible".
Article from: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23260723-10389,00.html
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