Newcastle Jets coach Craig Deans has been forced to make changes to his team for Sunday’s match against Wellington following a fresh ankle injury to Ramy Najjarine.
“He’s got another kick on the ankle, a new one,” Deans said.
“It’s disappointing. From the club’s point of view and football point of view, you want to see good players playing all the time.
“He missed four games through injury and it’s not soft tissue, it’s kicks to the ankle… it’s quite disappointing.
“The completion needs people like Ramy playing, so we need to protect him.”
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Luka Prso will take Najjarine’s place in the starting side, having filled the void in previous weeks while the 20-year-old was sidelined.
“Luka will come straight back in,” Deans said.
“He’s a different player to Ramy, so he will pose a different problem for Wellington from the first game.”
Veteran Jason Hoffman will also miss the match after aggravating the groin injury which has seen him miss a number of weeks now.
“Hoffy’s groin has flared up again,” Deans said.
“It’s not serious, it’s just enough to keep him out a couple of weeks.
“We will look after him and work with him.”
Sunday, 28 February 2021 – Newcastle Jets v Wellington Phoenix at McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
Kick-Off: 6:10pm (Local)(6:10pm (AEDT))
Referee: Jonathan Barreiro
Assistant Referee 1: Ryan Gallagher
Assistant Referee 2: James Cleal
Fourth Official: Stephen Lucas
VAR: Shaun Evans
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 6:00pm (AEDT), Sky Sport 7 (New Zealand), Kayo Sports (www.kayosports.com.au) and MyFootball Live App, Live Fast and Data Free for Telstra mobile customers
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #NEWvWEL
To purchase tickets visit www.a-league.com.au/tickets
Newcastle Jets squad: 1.Lewis ITALIANO (gk), 2.Johnny KOURTROUMBIS, 4.Nigel BOOGAARD (c), 6.Steven UGARKOVIC, 9.Roy O’DONOVAN, 14.Ali ABBAS, 15.Tete YENGI, 16.Matt MILLAR, 18.Jack ARMSON, 17.Valentino YUEL, 19.Kosta PETRATOS, 21.Luka PRŠO, 22.Lachlan JACKSON, 23.Jack DUNCAN (gk), 24.Connor O’TOOLE, 26.Archie GOODWIN, 27.Lucas MAURAGIS, 32.Angus THURGATE, 33.Apostolos STAMATELOPOULOS, 44.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY
**2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 18.Jack ARMSON (promoted), 22.Lachlan JACKSON (promoted), 15.Tete YENGI (promoted), 33.Apostolos STAMATELOPOULOS (promoted)
Outs: 11.Ramy NAJJARINE (ankle – 1 week), 3.Jason HOFFMAN (groin – 1 week)
Unavailable: 5.Ben KANTAROVKSI (calf – 2 weeks)
Wellington Phoenix squad: 1.Stefan MARINOVIC (gk), 2.Liam McGING, 4.Te Atawhai HUDSON-WIHONGI, 5.James MCGARRY, 6.Tim PAYNE, 7.Reno PISCOPO, 8.Cameron DEVLIN, 9.David BALL, 10.Ulises DAVILA, 12.Matthew RIDENTON, 13.Charles LOKOLI-NGOY, 14.Alex RUFER, 15.Mirza MURATOVIC, 16.Louis FENTON, 17.Tomer HEMED, 18.Ben WAINE, 19.Sam SUTTON, 20.Oliver SAIL, 21.Joshua LAWS, 23.Clayton LEWIS
**2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 9.David BALL (return from suspension), 17.Tomer HEMED (return from injury)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 3.Luke DEVERE (knee injury, 10-12 weeks), 11.Jaushua SOTIRIO (knee injury, 3 weeks)
