Mariners have a Major attacking threat in Travis

Central Coast Mariners attacker Travis Major looks like such a natural at scoring goals people would think he's been doing it all his football life but he is, in fact, a manufactured striker - who was playing as a defender until a couple of years ago.

One goal from two substitute appearances is a healthy return for Travis Major as he begins his A-League career (Getty)

The dramatic switch was orchestrated by Mark Crittenden, Major's former coach at Blacktown City in the NSW Premier League.

It bore fruit last year when Blacktown won the state competition and qualified for the inaugural FFA Cup. Major scored 24 goals in all competitions to start attracting the attention of A-League scouts and begin the process that now sees him among the nation's elite footballers.

The 24 year-old will play his third game for Mariners when they host Adelaide United at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday and has already opened his account off the bench in the 5-1 loss to Sydney FC last time out.

"When I started in first grade at Blacktown, it was under Aytek Genc and I was a right back," Major told The World Game.

"Then 'Critto' took over a couple of years later and showed a lot of belief in me by pushing me higher up the pitch. Last year he ended up putting me right up front, which I was pretty happy with, and he gave me a lot of freedom.

"For a while it was a bit of an adjustment, playing with the back to goal sort of thing, target man, but the club worked hard with me and it was a pretty smooth transition in the end."

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Crittenden, who has established a reputation for himself in a competition that also includes Branko Culina and Mark Rudan in the coaching ranks, says he saw the potential for Major to become a striker from his efforts in training drills.

"Travis was predominantly a right back, but then he got taller and quicker and we put him into the No. 7 role," Crittenden said.

"Then we got a vacancy for an out-and-out No. 9 and one thing he always could do in training drills was finish.

"He always knew where the net was. In all our training drills and shooting drills he was always a very good finisher and very quick.

"I knew he had the pace to get behind blokes, so we gave him a go up front. He took to it like a duck to water, he just never stopped scoring.

"He's a totally manufactured striker and it's where he was meant to be. Two years ago we moved him into the front third and when we had no No. 9 we thought he might be a good choice.

"It was all about what we saw on the training paddock."

Major is taking time getting used to the increased pace and intensity of the A-League but one thing that has been evident from the first time he came off the bench is that he believes he should be playing at this level.

There is no lack of confidence and he makes sure he gets involved.

"From the moment I got up the coast, everyone has made me feel welcome and I haven't felt like I'm out of my depth in any situation," he said.

"It's always good not to be nervous and have full belief in yourself when you go on the pitch.

"A lot of it comes down to 'Mossy' (coach Phil Moss) and 'Sully' (assistant coach Wayne O'Sullivan)  and their reassuring words before I go on, which makes you feel good and ready.

"One of my strengths is that I'm not afraid to put my body on the line. I'm pretty big and athletic, so I can put myself about a bit and challenge for the ball. Whatever I can do for the team in terms of doing a job, I'm up for it.

"The A-League is definitely a step up in class and the intensity is a lot higher and the tempo a lot quicker, which takes a  bit of time to get used to, but once you get used to that you can put your own stamp on the game."

Major has no shortage of expert advice at his disposal. He has his coaches at Central Coast and Crittenden is married to his mother, Helen.

"Critto's very good at man management," Major said. "You can always go to talk to him about things. He's always willing to listen and help you out to the best of his ability.

"He's very passionate about football. He's always happy for the boys at Blacktown to go to the next level, which has happened to four of our boys from last year's team. That's a credit to him."

Crittenden said Major was one of those kids who was told he wouldn't make it in football.

"When he was younger they said he was too small, not good enough, but he's grown into a big lad who has got pace and he knows where the goal is," Crittenden said. "We worked hard with him at Blacktown and he's done well.

"We have a chat every now and then about how he's going at the Mariners. There were a couple of things after the first game he was going to have to work on - not just being a runner, but being able to check off the line and things like that.

"Last game there were a couple of times when he didn't get the ball where he possibly could have and he threw his arms on his head in frustration.

"I told him he could do that at Blacktown, there's only 200 people there, but on TV with maybe 100,000 people watching it's not a good look.

"He takes it on-board, he's good like that. He's learning and improving all the time."

Major said he didn't think he would ever get sick of putting the ball in the back of the net.

"I can definitely improve as a player and that will mainly come from the professionalism I'm exposed to every day at the Mariners," he said.

"My fitness still needs to go up a bit from State League to A-League, and I can probably still work on things like my first touch with my back to goal, but they're things that can be done. Hopefully, I'll keep improving all the time.

"I love scoring goals. I don't care how they go in, whether it's a tap-in or something more involved than that, I'm happy."