The Jets Youth team take on Charlestown City Blues in Round 8 of the NBN State League at Lisle Carr Oval on Sunday.
The Newcastle Jets Youth team take on Charlestown City Blues in Round 8 of the NBN State League at Lisle Carr Oval on Sunday.
The Jets will be looking to bounce back from the 2-0 loss then suffered to defending Champions Broadmeadow Magic last weekend.
Newcastle coach Craig Deans said the young Jets squad need to do a better job of converting their chances in attack, while also making sure they don-t switch off defensively.
“It-s a bit like a broken record at the moment, but it-s part of the learning process for these young players to fix it,” Deans said.
“They need to be a bit more ruthless defensively and a bit more ruthless in front of goal and that-s something we-re continuing to work at.”
Charlestown will head into Sunday-s encounter full of confidence after back-to-back wins over Lake Macquarie City FC and Valentine FC.
“They-ve had four draws this season as well and have only lost one game, so they-re obviously a team that is tough to beat,” Deans said.
“We-ve just got to do what we do best, play to our strengths and hopefully we-ll do better this week than we did last week.”
The Jets are currently in eighth place on the NBN State League ladder and Deans believes it is important they starting putting points on the board in order to keep themselves in finals contention.
“We-ve spoken to them about the mentality of winning and what that takes,” Deans said.
“It-s true that it-s not all about results at their age, but they have to develop a winning mentality at some point.
“It takes concentration and making sure they don-t concede easy goals.
“The team this year compared to last year is a lot younger and there are three or four 16-year-olds getting a run each week.
“They-re getting better each week at dealing with the physical side of the game, but that-s part of it all.
“Age is not something that comes into consideration, you-re either good enough and strong enough, or you-re not.”
NBN State League Round 8
Newcastle Jets Youth v Charlestown City Blues
Lisle Carr Oval
Sunday, May 26
Kick-off 2.30pm
