Ernie Merrick has named his 18-man squad for Friday night’s match at McDonald Jones Stadium with Melbourne City, and it’s one which would have to go close to breaking a Hyundai A-League record given its extensive ins and outs.
Following Tuesday night’s gruelling 120-minute effort to progress in the AFC Champions League, rotation is the order of the day.
Six players who started that match won’t be in consideration for the clash with Melbourne City – Dimi Petratos, Ronny Vargas, Glen Moss, Nigel Boogaard, Ben Kantarovski, and Daniel Georgievski are out of the squad.
The veteran, Nikolai Topor-Stanley looks set to back up on Friday while Johnny Koutroumbis, Roy O’Donovan, and Steven Ugarkovic are also in the mix.
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Jason Hoffman remains out of contention, with a one-game suspension due to yellow card accumulation and awaiting a diagnosis on an ankle injury.
The ins for Friday have a distinctly Newcastle flavour though – Angus Thurgate, Pat Langlois, Noah James, and Jack Simmons are among the young, local guns promoted into the 18-man squad.
Jake Adelson, who has been training well after recovering from an ACL injury which kept him sidelined for almost a year, is also a chance of seeing his first Hyundai A-League minutes for the Jets.
Newcastle Jets FC Squad: 6.Steven UGARKOVIC, 8.Jair, 9.Roy O’DONOVAN, 13.Ivan VUJICA, 14.Kaine SHEPPARD, 16.Nick COWBURN, 18.Johnny KOUTROUMBIS, 19.Kosta PETRATOS, 20.Lewis ITALIANO (gk), 22.Lachlan JACKSON, 23.Matthew RIDENTON, 24.Joe CHAMPNESS, 25.Jack SIMMONS, 28.Pat LANGLOIS, 29.Jake ADELSON, 32.Angus THURGATE, 40.Noah JAMES (gk), 44.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY (c)
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 16.Nick COWBURN (promoted), 19.Kosta PETRATOS (promoted), 22.Lachlan JACKSON (promoted), 24.Joe CHAMPNESS (return from injury), 25.Jack SIMMONS (promoted), 28.Pat LANGLOIS (promoted), 29.Jake ADELSON (promoted), 32.Angus THURGATE (promoted), 40.Noah JAMES (gk) (promoted)
Outs: 1.Glen MOSS (gk) (omitted), 4.Nigel BOOGAARD (omitted), 5.Ben KANTAROVSKI (omitted), 7.Dimi PETRATOS (omitted), 10.Ronald VARGAS (omitted), 17.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI (omitted)
Unavailable: 3.Jason HOFFMAN (ankle – TBC)
