Gary van Egmond believes a positive result against Perth could have the flow-on effect of kick-starting the Jets’ season.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets head coach Gary van Egmond believes a positive result against Perth Glory at nib Stadium on Friday night could have the flow-on effect of kick-starting the Jets- season.
After a blistering start to the season, the Jets have plateaued in recent weeks, with only one win from their last six games.
Things don-t get any easier for the Jets this weekend with a tough road trip to a venue where Newcastle hasn-t defeated the home team since 2005.
However, van Egmond said a positive result against Perth could be the catalyst for the Jets regaining their early season form.
“You can look at it two ways,” van Egmond explained.
“We haven-t got a good record in Perth, but it now provides an opportunity to correct that.
“That-s the mindset that we-re definitely going over with to ensure we do get a result and really try to kick-start our season.
“We haven-t been able to get the best of results over and if we do turn things around this game, that can have a good effect for the following weeks.”
The Jets will take confidence from their Round 5 trip to Perth where, despite being beaten 3-2, they played arguably some of the best football they have all season.
“We-re looking forward to it. Last time we went there we didn-t get the result, but in the second half in particular we played very well, Van Egmond said.
“That performance has given us a lot of confidence to go back there and get a result.
“I think both teams are in a fairly similar position where they are welcoming players back and both teams haven-t been going very well in the last three to four weeks, so we-re really looking forward to this game.”
Van Egmond said fatigue wouldn-t be a factor for his players despite the short turnaround between matches, combined with the long distance travel.
“They all pulled up pretty well and even with a four or five day turnaround, most boys are going to be able to go again in this day and age of fulltime football and what they get in terms of recovery and what have you,” he said.
“I don-t see fatigue being too much of an issue for the group that played against the Central Coast.
“The issue is getting the balance right for what we need against Perth to be the most effective and that-s what we-re looking at in terms of the players we-ve included in the squad.”
Friday-s match looms as a crucial encounter with both the Jets and Glory stuck in a log-jam in the middle of the A-League ladder.
“Third is on 16 points and tenth is on 10 points and that-s just how close the competition is at this stage,” van Egmond said.
“We have to look at it positively, but as realists as well. We-re back in the pack after that early good start and we have to start getting results.”
