Matt Simon is out of Central Coast Mariners' finals clash at Brisbane Roar due to a freak 'beach walking' injury. The star striker cut his foot during a stroll on his local beach and is out of tonight's game.

"There's a beach near our house where you can take your dogs off their leash, and we have been going every day for the last three months,'' he told the Sydney Morning Herald. ''I threw a toy in the water but the dog wouldn't get it, so I was going in to get it, I was knee deep and as I stepped in the seaweed I stepped on something sharp.

''I looked at my foot and there was a massive cut on it. It's a really clean cut so the doctor thinks it was probably glass. I'm absolutely devastated. We've trained well all week and the boys have been really confident that we can go up there and do the job we need to do so I'm really devastated that this has happened at this time.

"The boys have trained well all week and I'll definitely be sitting at home cheering them on with my sore foot, and I'm confident that the boys can go up there and make a great fight of it, get the job done and get the result we need.''