Gary van Egmond has indicated he will look to stick with the same Jets side that defeated Melbourne Heart 2-0 last Friday.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets head coach Gary van Egmond has given an early indication that he will look to stick with the same Jets side that defeated Melbourne Heart 2-0 at Hunter Stadium last Friday.
Van Egmond made a number of changes to his starting XI for the clash with the Heart, most notably bringing in Michael Bridges and Adam Taggart to give the Jets added potency in attack.
The addition of Josh Brillante, Taylor Regan and Dominik Ritter to Newcastle-s backline also proved to be a wise choice as the Jets kept their fourth clean sheet of the season.
The sixth-placed Jets have an opportunity to move five points clear of the seventh-placed Brisbane Roar when the two sides meet at Hunter Stadium this Friday night.
Van Egmond has already indicated his desire to stick with the same match day squad that served him so well against the Heart.
“After that type of performance, it-s pretty plain to see that the team did extremely well, so unless we get people injured (the team won-t change),” van Egmond said.
“Emile (Heskey) was a little bit tight in his hip-flexor and Zenon (Caravella) was taken off as a precaution with a sore hamstring so hopefully they come up good.
“A few others got bumps and bruises here and there, but I envisage that they should all be fit for next week-s game.”
Van Egmond said he was pleased with the impact made by the likes of Bridges and Taggart, who added fluency to the Jets- attack.
“We always looked dangerous going forward. We looked like we had goals in us,” van Egmond said.
“Bridgey gives us real smarts in the front third and real smarts in regards to the game. He also gives players some real confidence.
“With Ryan on the right and Tags on the left, they naturally can come in and protect the ball quite well with their stronger foot.
“They looked to get involved whether by dribbling or bouncing forward and opening up space for the fullback to charge into that area.
“I thought there was a lot of energy with Sam (Gallaway) and Josh Brillante getting up and down and then you had the likes of Ruben (Zadkovich and obviously Zenon (Caravella) conducting the game.
“With Emile (Heskey), he can position himself and look to make runs from players who have a little bit more football nous about them.”
With so much at stake in each of the Jets- remaining games, in particular this weekend against Brisbane, van Egmond said his side wouldn-t be getting too carried away with last Friday-s result.
“It-s great, I-m over the moon that we-ve won, I-m really happy for the Members, I-m really happy for the players, but it-s one game and it all starts again next week,” van Egmond said.
“We just want to go out and ensure that we can show the Members and supporters the type of football that we want to look to try and play.
“From that display, hopefully we keep on getting that real support and the players themselves will benefit a lot from it in regards to confidence.”
