The Newcastle Jets have named a 17-man squad for Friday’s critical match-up with Brisbane Roar at Hunter Stadium.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets head coach Gary van Egmond has named a 17-man squad for Friday-s critical match-up with Brisbane Roar at Hunter Stadium.
Connor Chapman was unavailable for selection as he continues to recover from an ankle injury sustained in training last week.
Van Egmond said he is likely to stick with the same side that defeated Melbourne Heart 2-0 at Hunter Stadium last Friday.
“We-ve got a few bumps and bruises still, but I-d envisage that we-d have that (same) first eleven,” van Egmond said.
“You change a team sometimes through suspensions or injuries and we-ve had to balance that a little bit with national team selections and the other part of it, which are results.
“From my point of view I-d really like to have a more settled eleven and you feel a lot better as a group when that eleven becomes so easy to select.
“This week I felt it was pretty well a no-brainer for us to select be able to select that eleven, when other weeks you-re tossing and turning in regards to which players to play because you-re just not settled on it.”
Van Egmond said he was confident that midfielder Zenon Caravella will have fully recovered from hamstring tightness in time for Friday-s clash with the Roar.
“Zenon is the only one that I would suggest has a little bit of a question mark over him. He trained fully today, and we-ll see how he comes up tomorrow,” van Egmond said.
“The reason he came off last game was his hamstring, he just got tight so we took him off as a precaution.
“He had one day off with it, trained for a half session on Monday and today he trained fully so we-ll just see how he pulls up.”
After making his first start of the season last round, former English Premier League striker Michael Bridges looks likely to once again partner Emile Heskey in the Jets forward line.
“I would suggest that Michael will start again,” van Egmond said.
“He did really well in his first game back in the starting line-up and again he-s really looking forward to the contest.”
Newcastle Jets squad:
1. Ben Kennedy (gk), 3. Zenon Caravella, 5. Dominik Ritter, 7. James Brown, 8. Ruben Zadkovich (c), 9. Emile Heskey, 12. Josh Brillante, 13. Sam Gallaway, 14. Taylor Regan, 15. Craig Goodwin, 17. James Virgili,19. Michael Bridges, 20. Mark Birighitti (gk), 22. Adam Taggart, 23. Ryan Griffiths, 25. Mitch Cooper, 26. Andrew Hoole.
Ins: James Brown, Andrew Hoole (both promoted)
Outs: –
Unavailable: Connor Chapman (ankle), Ben Kantarovski (knee/season)
Newcastle Jets v Brisbane Roar
Friday, February 22
Hunter Stadium
Kick-off 7.30pm (Gates open 6.30pm)
Tickets from PROticket
