Emile Heskey has wasted no time stating his desire to help the Jets qualify for the 2013/14 A-League Finals Series.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets marquee striker Emile Heskey has wasted no time expressing his desire to help the Jets qualify for the 2013/14 A-League Finals Series, after commencing pre-season training with the Club on Friday.
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The former England international linked up with his Jets teammates at Ray Watt Oval on Friday morning following an extended off-season break spent with his family in the United Kingdom.
Heskey said that keeping off-season personnel changes at Newcastle to a minimum could play a key role in the Jets achieving their ambition of qualifying for the 2013/14 Finals Series.
“It-s nice to have a secure bunch that know each other and have been playing together for at least a year now,” Heskey said.
“We-re just hoping to do as well as we can. Obviously as a Club you always want to strive and push forward.
“The main thing everyone wants to do is make the finals and we-re no different.
“We-ve just got to keep plugging away and keep the focus on getting good results.”
Heskey said he is confident they Jets have the tools to make a big impact in the A-League this season, provided the playing squad performs to its capabilities on a consistent basis.
“We showed it in bits and pieces last season and hopefully we can be a bit more consistent this year,” Heskey said.
“We have got the players. We-ve had players in the national team for Under 20s and the senior squad and they-re being watched all the time.
“We-ve had players like Craig (Goodwin) go abroad to Reading to train.
“It shows we-re going in the right direction, we probably just need to play with a little bit more consistency.”
Heskey arrived in Newcastle just one week prior to the start of the 2012/13 season, which made for a challenging transitional period while he adjusted to a new team, a new league and a new lifestyle.
The former Liverpool striker said he knew what to expect this time around and is looking forward to having a bit more time to settle in ahead of his second season in the A-League.
“I-m a little bit jetlagged, but it-s nice to get back on the field and to get training again,” Heskey said.
“I-ve been champing at the bit to come over and start training again. It was a long break to have, but I needed the break and I can-t wait to get going again.
“Hopefully it will help me adjust and get fit again. Obviously last season I arrived just a week before the season started, so at least I-ve got more time now to prepare even better.
“We-re working towards the start of the season. The lads have obviously been working going a long time.
“It is a long pre-season to be honest with you and I-m used to only having six weeks in Europe, but here I-ve got eight weeks to get ready, which is more than enough time.”
The Newcastle Jets would like to thank Newcastle Hire Cars for kindly meeting Emile and his family at the airport and providing transport back to Newcastle earlier this week.
