he Newcastle Jets have today named a 18-player squad for Saturday’s Week 10 game.
The Newcastle Jets have today named a 18-player squad for Saturday-s Week 10 game against the Central Coast Mariners at Bluetongue Stadium.
Goalkeeper Ben Kennedy returns to the extended squad for Jack Duncan, who returns to the Youth team. English striker Francis Jeffers, Taylor Regan and Jacob Pepper have also been added to the extended squad this week.
One decision for coach Gary van Egmond this week centres around who will get that starting spot in goals, but he isn-t giving any indication at this stage.
“I haven-t made that decision yet, we will assess that closer to game day and I will be guided by our goalkeeping coach Bob Catlin,” van Egmond said.
With Jeffers training strongly this week, another decision for the coach will be who starts up front after Labinot Haliti played well when given the spot last week.
“Francis trained yesterday and today, so he is right to go this week,” van Egmond added.
“It will be a tough decision on who gets the starting spot up front but as a coach, it is great to have competition for spots amongst the team as it means they are pushing each other.”
Saturday-s game against the Mariners will be the 25th instalment of the F3 Derby. The Jets won the most recent encounter in Round 3 but van Egmond believes both teams have improved in the games since.
“Both teams have changed since our last game,” he said.
“The Mariners first half against Adelaide last week was the best half of football I have seen in the A-League all season.
“They are a well organised and well coached team and they have improved since the last time we met them.
“But so have we, it should be a great spectacle.”
The Jets will prepare as they would for a home game, and will meet at the game rather than traveling the day before like other away games. The coach is hoping Members and supporters can treat it like a home game as well and attend in big numbers.
“Our Members and supporters have been fantastic, so it is not about challenging them but it would be wonderful to outnumber them at their home ground, “ van Egmond concluded.
The Jets 18-man squad to take on Central Coast Mariners is: 1. Ben Kennedy, 2. Taylor Regan, 4. Nikolai Topor-Stanley, 5. Tiago Calvano, 6. Ben Kantarovski, 7. Kasey Wehrman, 8. Jeremy Brockie, 9. Michael Bridges, 10. Ruben Zadkovich, 11. Tarek Elrich, 12. Jobe Wheelhouse (c), 13. Sung-Hwan Byun, 14. Labinot Haliti, 19. Matthew Nash (gk) 22. Ali Abbas, 23. Ryan Griffiths, 24. Francis Jeffers 25. Jacob Pepper.
