Coach Gary van Egmond felt the Newcastle Jets could take a lot out of the loss to the Victory on Saturday.
Despite not bringing the three-points home from Melbourne this weekend, coach Gary van Egmond felt the Newcastle Jets could take a lot out of the game.
The Jets spent the majority of the second half with ten men after Tarek Elrich was handed a red card, yet the game was in the balance right until the final whistle.
“When you go down to 10 men it obviously becomes a bit difficult, but for the mainstay of the match I thought we controlled it,” van Egmond said.
“What you saw out there was a bunch of boys who worked for each other and believed in what we have been spruiking as far as the coaching staff is concerned.
“Everyone was on the same page and with a little more ruthlessness in that front third we could have been on the other side of the ledger tonight.
“We can take a lot of stock out of that performance tonight.”
The irony in the defeat is the Jets scored all three goals, with two own goals from defender Sung-Hwan Byun.
“We would have thought we would have won by more if Byun had scored a brace but look these things happen and it was unfortunate,” van Egmond said.
“The first one sliding in, he was caught on the wrong side and had to make up for his positioning and the second one, he was in a better position but he came on to it a little quicker than he anticipated.”
The Jets are still chasing that elusive win away from home this season, but the coach remains optimistic when pressed on the topic.
“You have spells like this and it does happen, but we haven-t made an issue of it,” van Egmond added.
“Everyone’s preparation has been good so there are no issues for us as far as what we do when we come away.
“It is definitely a case of keep working hard on the training pitch and buying into what we are talking about.
“If we stay with a full compliment of players on the pitch we definitely get something out of it if not definitely win the game.”
The Jets get their opportunity this weekend, traveling to the Central Coast on Saturday for Week 15 of the Hyundai A-League.
