View from the Victory, Volume Eight: While Harry's Away, the Victory Play

The Melbourne Victory's Harry Kewell was excused from Mehmet Durakovic's side to take part in a couple of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers with Oman and Thailand. (For the record, the Socceroos failed to secure qualification to the fourth round, playing their worst football of the campaign in the form of a 1-0 defeat in Muscat.)

Meanwhile, the Victory had their own local matters to attend to in the form of the Central Coast Mariners. A 1-1-3 record (six points) was not the start Melbourne was hoping for. Suspensions to Ante Covic and Matthew Foschini exacerbated matters for the visitors at the Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford.

"People are saying we've got them at a good time but it's still going to be a very, very big ask for us," the Mariners' Alex Wilkinson told Liam FitzGibbon of the Sydney Morning Herald.

"They've got a lot of players to come in, their depth is pretty frightening.

"They've got guys like Matthew Kemp, who was in Socceroos squads a couple of years ago, waiting in the wings to come in ... then there's Marco Rojas, Danny Allsopp, (Jean Carlos) Solorzano, who won a premiership with Brisbane last year.

"They lose a couple of quality players but bring in just as good players to replace them."

Coming into the match, the Mariners had a record of 2-1-2 (seven points), making this a mid-table clash for both sides.

"We've had enormous restrictions on our playing personnel, budget-wise," Mariners manager Graham Arnold told David Davutovic of the Melbourne Herald Sun. "We've got 21 players who are all well under the cap, but I've got no problems with that. Our strength is the culture of the team."

Central Coast nearly took the lead in the 29th minute, but Rodrigo Vargas was forced to clear, and the second rebound did not cross the end line. That was the only highlight in what was a scoreless first half.

The second half brought more of the same lack of production from both sides, and the end result was a scoreless draw.

Up next for Melbourne Victory is a match with Perth Glory at Etihad Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 20 at 5 p.m. AEST and will be televised by Fox Sports 1.