David Carney believes he is close to finding his best form after getting through 80 minutes against the Central Coast Mariners.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets winger David Carney believes he is close to finding his best form after making his first starting appearance for the Jets in Saturday-s F3 Derby against the Central Coast Mariners at Bluetongue Stadium.
Carney said he felt the hit out against the Mariners would hold him in good stead for the remaining four matches of the season, starting on Saturday against Wellington Phoenix at Hunter Stadium.
“I felt alright during the game. I got through 80 minutes, which surprised me, but I-m glad to get that under my belt,” Carney said.
“I was a bit tight today and I think two days after (a game) is always a hard one, but I got through training fine and hopefully come the end of the week I-ll be fresh for Wellington.
“After that 80 minutes on the weekend, I think he next game hopefully you-ll see the better out of me.
“I-m experienced enough now to know my body and know when to push and when not to push, so hopefully come the finals few weeks of the season I can hit form.”
Carney said he felt he built chemistry with his teammates in the front third – Joel Griffiths, Emile Heskey and Adam Taggart – throughout the contest.
“Joel-s an experienced player, he-s been there, done that and he-s started hitting form recently,” Carney said.
“Particularly in the second half I think we started combining really well, it was just unfortunate we couldn-t get that goal.
“I wanted to keep the width, but as the game went on I wanted to get on the ball more, so I started coming inside to make that extra man.
“I wanted to make sure it was the right time, otherwise you can get caught out.
“I think we did that quite well, we linked up and got into the box a few times, but like I said, it was just unfortunate we didn-t get the goal.”
Despite the result against the Mariners, Carney was optimistic the Jets could draw on the positives from that performance to secure a positive result against Wellington Phoenix at Hunter Stadium on Saturday.
“It wasn-t good the way we lost and it was unfortunate with the way we conceded a couple of the goals, but I thought the reaction was great,” Carney said.
“As for the performance I thought we were much better than them, which we can take confidence out of coming into the final games.
“Especially in the second half, I thought for a good 20 or 30 minutes, we dominated them and played really well.
“We played with a lot of aggression and a lot of pace and I thought we were on top for most of the game.”
Carney said he the Jets- focused remained firmly on working their way back into the top six and qualifying for the Hyundai A-League Finals Series.
“You need a bit of experience now with four games left to get into the playoffs, but it-s all in our hands and that-s the good thing about it,” Carney said.
“If we can win two and get a draw, I think that will be enough to get us through.
“I-m confident in the boys that we can do that, we-ve got a great team spirit, there-s a great energy about the lads and hopefully fingers crossed we can get a win this week and go on a bit of a run again.”
Newcastle Jets v Wellington Phoenix
Saturday, March 22
Hunter Stadium
Kick-off 5.30pm
Tickets available from PROticket.
