Craig Deans believes the Jets’ solid away form this season has given them confidence ahead of Friday’s clash with Brisbane Roar.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets assistant coach Craig Deans believes the Jets’ solid away form this season has given them confidence ahead of Friday night-s clash with Brisbane Roar.
The Jets have recorded two strong interstate victories over Adelaide and Melbourne Victory this season and were unlucky not take all three points against Wellington in Napier in round three after a dominant performance.
“I think the away form this year hasn-t been too bad apart from the two games in Sydney, we-ve had a couple of wins and a couple of draws,” Deans said.
“We-ve improved our away form from the last couple of seasons which wasn-t the best, we don-t feel any less confident going away from home and we-ve done well against Brisbane in the history of the Club.”
Although disappointed to succumb to a 1-0 loss to the Wanderers at Hunter Stadium, Deans felt there were plenty of positives to take out of the match.
“Yeah obviously the result wasn-t the one that we wanted, but the first half an hour that we put together, I think we played some of the best football we-ve played this season,” he said.
“We just weren-t ruthless enough to make the most of the opportunities that we created, so obviously it was disappointing to concede a goal the way we did and at the time we did.
“Western Sydney had to bring their best game and to give them credit they played pretty well and they played their style of football the best they have in the last month.
“But there-s enough positives in there that we can go up to Brisbane and feel it-s not beyond us to get a result.”
Nathan Burns was a late withdrawal from the match against the Wanderers on the weekend with a knee complaint and Deans admitted his absence was a big blow for the Jets.
“I think when everyone-s fit and available we-ve played some good football and I think people underestimate sometimes the impact losing a player like Burnsy can have on the team,” he said.
“I think the game on the weekend would have been a really good game for someone like him with the attributes he has, so we missed him on the weekend especially.
“You want him in your team every time he-s available and I think he-s a very important part of what we do and how we do it.
“With his ability to beat people and score goals which we saw down in Melbourne, he-s going to be important for us this weekend.”
The Jets sit in fifth place on the A-League ladder after 10 rounds but Deans was adamant the team were not placing too much emphasis on their position in the early part of the season.
“It-s such an up and down competition, you can-t get too carried away with being third or being fifth, until you get to the last seven or eight rounds its quite topsy turvy,” he said.
“We stay positive every week, we-re confident in the team we have to get the results we need.”
But Deans was under no illusions of the task facing the Jets this weekend – runaway ladder leaders and two-time champions Brisbane Roar away from home.
“It-s going to be tough, if you want to stay in the top three or four than you have win the tough games against the likes of Western Sydney and Brisbane,” he said.
“They-ve got some of the best attacking players in the competition in the one team, they score goals quite frequently and that-s something that we need to make sure we can stop.”
