United players put on notice

GOLD Coast United coach Sean Lane has warned his misfiring players their NPL futures are on the line as they fight for pride in their final six fixtures.

Tipped to battle for a topfour berth before season kickoff, United have been plagued by inconsistency in 2018, with Sunday’s shock 3-1 loss to struggling Mackay and Whitsundays leaving them a whopping 19 points adrift of the playoff pace.

With just eight wins in 20 games – and James Coutts and Nick Panetta already released mid-season – Lane said it was time for his troops to prove they deserved to be part of the club’s 2019 plans.

Their next opportunity will come in Saturday’s make-up clash at home to Brisbane City, who dished out a 5-1 flogging when the sides met a month ago.

“We’ve done a mid-year review and we’ll do a formal, end-of-year review and those decisions (about contracts) will be made when the season is finished. Everyone knows where they’re at, there’s not a player who wouldn’t know if they’re doing a good, bad or indifferent job,” Lane said.

“There’s still seven or eight games to play and time for players to prove to us they deserve to be here next season.

“It’s a good opportunity (against Brisbane City) to set the record straight because there’s no way that was a 5-1 result when we played them last time.

“I’ll be interested to see how the boys respond after the result on the weekend.” Despite missing Acim Tomic, Tyler Wagstaff (injured) and Conor Smith (suspended), and losing Jayden Prasad early to injury, Lane offered no excuses for Sunday’s lacklustre effort.

“We bossed the second half and created enough chances to win the game comfortably but didn’t take them,” he said.

“We then proceeded to gift them two goals with poor defending and poor decisionmaking.

“When you do that you deserve nothing (and) that’s exactly what we got.”

United’s run home includes games against top-four teams Western Pride, Lions and Moreton Bay United in consecutive weeks.