Culina still aiming for top-two finish with Gold Coast

Gold Coast United captain and star midfielder Jason Culina is still eyeing a top-two finish this season.

The new A-League club, in just its first season, are currently positioned third on the table and need a win on Saturday night when they take on fellow newcomers North Queensland Fury in Townsville.
They also need second-placed Sydney FC to either lose or draw against league leaders Melbourne Victory on Sunday so Culina’s plan is to make life as difficult as possible for the Sky Blues by beginning the day in second spot after defeating the Fury.

"There's still plenty to play for and our aim is to make life very nervy for Sydney," said Culina.

"We have to take three points and then the heat will all be on Sydney with us above them by two points.

"How they would respond, who can say? But it would make it very interesting for us and the rest of the A-League."

Culina said a top-two finish would be a great asset towards Gold Coast’s title chances as it would mean a shortened path to the Grand Final if they were to be successful early in the finals series.

“That's certainly doing it the long way," said Culina of finishing lower than second.

"The most we've won before is three games in a row but we haven't given up hope of coming second and being able to take on Melbourne (in a two-legged major semi-final which would provide automatic entry to the grand final for the winner).

"We always knew it would come down to the last round and while we're upset about the loss against Wellington, we're not downhearted and we can play with freedom against the Fury.

"We can't finish any lower than third, so we can give it a real go against a side who have nothing left to play for."