Auckland FC's Louis Verstraete will miss the game against the Central Coast Mariners. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Auckland FC v Central Coast Mariners
Kick-off: 5pm Sunday 16 March
Go Media Mt Smart Stadium
Live blog updates on RNZ Sport
Ill-discipline has cost A-League leaders Auckland FC two key players for Sunday's clash against Central Coast Mariners and two more players are walking a tightrope.
Midfielder Louis Verstraete was red carded with 15 minutes of regulation time remaining against Newcastle Jets for a studs up clash with Charles M'Mombwa. The match review panel deemed Verstraete committed serious foul play with the minimum sanction for the offence a one-match ban.
Defender Nando Pijnaker will also miss the Mariners game after accumulating five yellow cards this season.
It will be the first time that Auckland will be missing two players in a the same match for non-injury related reasons.
Earlier in the season, Adama Coulibaly received Auckland's first red card in a loss against Perth Glory and sat out one game.
As a team, Auckland has accumulated 31 yellow cards after 19 games played. Five teams have received more with the 10th placed Mariners the worst offenders with 41.
After 20 games, the number of yellow cards an individual player can pick up before being forced to miss a match extends to eight. All tallies are reset for the playoffs.
Midfielder Cam Howieson, who has been predominately coming off the bench this season, is sitting on four yellow cards, as is midfielder Felipe Gallegos, who picked up his fourth in late January against Western Sydney Wanderers.
Coach Steve Corica "can understand why" Verstraete was given a red card but he does not necessarily agree that the Belgian should have been punished with a red.
"The momentum, he was on the ground he slid in they both slid in so the momentum of his action is normal. Obviously it looks pretty bad when you slow it down but everything does when you slow things down."
Corica does have one eye on the yellow card tally.
"If we can get through this week with no yellows, we should be fine."
With players on the cusp of suspension, Corica does not want them to change the way they play.
"It is difficult, you don't want them to pull back, and this is why we've got good depth in the squad so if we do miss players you've got someone else to come in and then maybe they don't get their spot back, but you want them to make sure they play the game you don't want them not making challenges for that reason."
Corica believed his players could avoid suspensions when the tally extends.
"With seven games to go, you'd hope that they don't pick up that many yellow cards in seven games but you never know."
After the Mariners game, the A-League breaks for a week for the international window and Corica wants to keep his players, including Pijnaker and Vestraete, active.
"Nando is obviously going away with the All Whites so hopefully he'll get a game there to keep his fitness going but you don't want them to stop too long Louis Verstraete wouldn't have played for another three weeks so he will probably play in the reserve team we need to keep him fit motivated.
"It's going to be a tough run with seven games to go everyone is pushing to make the top six."
Another beneficiary of the club's new reserves side is Dan Hall who will return to the A-League side after three months out injured with a broken ankle on Sunday against his former club the Mariners.
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