Newcastle Jets head coach Phil Stubbins says he expects trialist Robert Paratore to feature for the Jets in their behind closed doors trial match against the Young Socceroos tomorrow.
Stubbins said Paratore, who spent four seasons in the youth set-up of English Premier League Club Leicester City, would have the opportunity to finish his one-week trial with the Jets with game time against the Australian U-20 National Team.
“He’ll be able to play and I think it’s probably vital that we have a look at the kid and give him the shop window to try and show us what his capabilities are,” Stubbins said.
“We’ll be giving him some minutes and how many minutes he gets, we’ll see on Saturday.”
Stubbins said he has been pleased with the way Paratore has acquitted himself so far during his time in Newcastle.
“He’s come over here, he’s certainly enthusiastic and he seems as though he’s got the engines to do the job and his passing range quite good,” Stubbins said.
“He’s a guy that is pretty robust in how he goes about things competitively, and he seems as though he’s pretty comfortable in possession of the ball.
“It’s a hard game football and he’s come in and not looked out of place.
“We’ll see how’s he done at the end of his trial and make a decision then.”
Stubbins said it was important the Jets signed a player in the central midfield role who was the right fit for the Club.
“Strategically we need to make the right decisions for the Newcastle Jets going forward,” Stubbins explained.
“Are we better off going for someone that’s got a lot of experience when we know we’ve got Billy Celeski and Ben Kantarovski to come back.
“Or is it a younger guy that we bring in who we think we can blood and move forward with in the future.”