Emile Heskey is confident the Jets are capable of finishing the season strongly ahead of Saturday’s clash with Sydney FC.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets striker Emile Heskey is confident the Jets are capable of finishing the Hyundai A-League season strongly ahead of Saturday-s clash with Sydney FC at Hunter Stadium.
Heskey said the Jets had taken confidence from the morale boosting win over competition leaders Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium last weekend and were looking to consolidate on that performance against the Sky Blues on Saturday.
“It is a little strange that we-ve taken three wins off the top team and they are the standout team with the way they perform and the way they play,” Heskey said.
“You-ve got to respect that and the fact that we-ve beaten them three times is an amazing feat.
“We-ve just got to go again. It was an important victory for us. We-ve been playing some reasonably good football and have been a little bit unlucky.
“We-ve been working hard to shore up certain things in our game.”
The Jets are looking for their first win at Hunter Stadium since November when they face Sydney on Saturday, but Heskey said the Jets- playing group was not feeling any extra pressure, despite their desire to win the in front of their home fans.
“The fans- disappointment is the same as our disappointment, we-re fans at the end of the day as well, so we-re going to go out there and try and perform again and give it our all,” Heskey said.
“I played in the Premier League for 17 years… hopes are on me whenever I go out on the pitch.
“It’s nice to have pressure on you. That’s what makes you thrive at times. People thrive under pressure.
“So it’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before and nothing I can’t deal with.
“The main thing for me is to get playing regularly and hopefully we-ll see a big finish from myself and the team.”
Heskey has been hampered by injuries throughout the Jets- 2013/14 campaign but the former England international said he confident the Jets can finish the season on a high and qualify for the Hyundai A-League Finals.
“It-s been a frustrating season, because at the end of the day I haven-t played as much as I would-ve like to and I haven-t been as fit as I would-ve liked,” Heskey said.
“It-s just been one of those seasons. I-ve played for near on 20 years now and I can-t say I-ve had a season where I-ve damaged both knees and have had back problems.
“We have to go into the games confident and we have to go in thinking that we are able to win the games.
“We-ve got to stay really positive, and we-ve got the players that can actually do that.”
Heskey said he was looking forward to the possibility of teaming up with fellow striker Joel Griffiths against Sydney on Saturday.
“We all know what Sydney is about, they had a great win on the weekend as well, so there-s two of us going into the game on a high,” Heskey said.
“Joel has been great since he-s been back, we all know what he is about, he had a great time here last time and hopefully we can do that again when we play together.”
Newcastle Jets v Sydney FC
Saturday, February 22
Hunter Stadium
Kick-off 5.30pm
Tickets available from PROticket.
