Gary van Egmond says the Jets are ‘hurting’ after their 3-0 loss to Wellington Phoenix at Hunter Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets head coach Gary van Egmond says the Jets are ‘hurting- after their 3-0 loss to Wellington Phoenix at Hunter Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Van Egmond said he and the entire Jets squad felt their performance on Sunday was below par, but they were determined to rectify that with a strong week on the training paddock.
“They-re hurting as we-re all hurting and I-m sure every Newcastle Jets fan is hurting,” van Egmond said.
“Hopefully it-s enough hurt for the players to understand that what they produced wasn-t good enough.
“I think we had something like 65% of possession, which is great, but what did we do with it?
“That comes down to front third decision making and building up and playing out from the back four.
“We need to get back to understanding how we can control the game and that-s something we-ll be working on during the week and obviously along the defensive frailties that we have.”
Van Egmond said that the performance had opened the door for players outside of Sunday-s squad to put their hand up for selection this week.
“Everyone comes back into the mix. I-ve told the boys I-m looking to freshen the team up for this weekend, but I-m not going to freshen it up just for the sake of it,” he said.
“They need to show this week that they really want to play, that they-re ready to step up and do a job and ensure they-re accountable for the position they play.
Craig Goodwin and Dominik Ritter both missed Newcastle-s defeat at the hands of the Phoenix due to injury and van Egmond said their fitness would be monitored throughout the week.
“ Dom didn-t train with the group this morning. We-re going to give him until Wednesday and hopefully he-s over that strain,” van Egmond said.
“It was just a case where it kept on nagging him every time he came back. He can run and do everything but kicking, so we want to get him 100% right.
“Craig was mentally and physically a bit spent. He-s a young kid and he copped a knock on his shin, which didn-t seem to be getting any better so we-ve given him some R&R.
“We-ll have a look and gauge how they are during the week and go from there.”
Mark Birighitti underwent an operation on his fractured cheekbone on Monday and van Egmond said the Club was considering its options in terms of brining in a possible injury replacement player.
“There-s a couple of options and I-ll speak to Robbie about what we do in regards to that,” he said.
“It just depends on what-s available. It-s important to have three fit keepers and we-ve obviously got Matt Nash and young Jack Duncan.
“It-s about getting someone else in where there-s good competition for the number one spot.”
