Craig Deans says the Jets will draw on the positives from their draw with Melbourne Heart as they prepare to face Brisbane Roar.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets assistant coach Craig Deans says the Jets will draw on the positives from last week-s 3-3 draw with Melbourne Heart as they prepare for Saturday-s match against Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium.
Deans said the Jets would carry momentum into their clash with Brisbane after they were twice able to come from behind to secure a point against the Heart.
“If you look at the game as a whole, we were in control of the game for the majority of the game, bar that first 15 minutes,” Deans said.
“To come back and get a point, you do take positives from that.
“You take positives from the performance and it-s something we-ve been working towards for the last 30 weeks of pre-season and the first eight weeks of this season and we-ll continue to do that.
“The players will take confidence from it, but it-s not the end, you have to keep improving,”
While Deans was happy with certain aspects of the Jets- performance against Melbourne, he said there were still areas that needed addressing, in particular the Jets- leaky defence.
“The back four on the weekend, there were no players from last year there so it does take time,” Deans said.
“It-s individual errors at this stage, it-s not a tactical thing or a result of being unable to read the game. It-s individual errors and that just comes down to a bit of concentration.
“As a defender, your priority is not to concede a goal and that-s the mindset we need to take.”
Deans said the Jets- determination to control the game and create goal-scoring opportunities meant they would always run the risk of conceding goals.
“We talk about controlling the game, and if you want to control the game you need to open yourself up,” he said.
“If you want to create scoring opportunities you need to open yourself up, you need to go forward.
“On the back of that if you-re not well organised and focused on the transition from attack to defence, you can get punished.
“That wasn-t the case on the weekend, we didn-t get punished in that way. We got punished through some individual stuff.
“There-s no hiding from it, we have to get rid of it.”
Deans said the fitness of the Jets has played a key role in their strong start to the season, which currently sees them sitting in equal-third place on the A-League ladder.
“I think we-re very, very fit. I don-t think there-s been a game this year where we haven-t finished the stronger team,” Deans said.
“On the weekend, it hot weather for the first time, we finished the game strongly and I think that-s a result of our pre-season.
“There-s never an easy session and there should never be.”
