Gary van Egmond has selected a 16-man squad for Sunday’s game against Gold Coast United.
Newcastle Jets coach Gary van Egmond was impressed with the energy levels at training today, as the Jets prepare for their Week 4 game against Gold Coast United at Skilled Park.
Van Egmond-s return to the Jets on Monday was a session with the players that were on the pitch for less than 45 minutes against the Central Coast Mariners. With no training on Tuesday, today-s session was the first time he had the entire squad together.
“Today was a good session and there was a lot of energy out there,” the coach said. “They are getting new information and it is good to see them taking that on board.”
This weekend the Jets are looking to get their first away win of the season but don-t take any comfort in the Gold Coast’s ladder position; who have had two draws followed by a 3-0 loss against Brisbane Roar.
“I think the Gold Coast have done really well this year,” van Egmond said.
“They have more structure to their game and a good work ethic, I think they have shown good signs from their games so far.
“We go there this weekend with a lot of respect for Gold Coast and we know it will be a tough match.”
The Jets will be without defender Tiago Calvano when they travel north on Saturday, after scans showed a hamstring tear.
“It is a shame for Tiago but we don-t want to risk him so early in the season,” the coach said.
“He had a hamstring strain against Wellington, then got patched up and felt okay but unfortunately it went a little bit more in the game on the weekend.
“The medical staff were amazed how much he got through in the game, seeing it was closer to a grade two tear. It just shows how much he wants to play.”
When Calvano left the field on Sunday, Taylor Regan replaced him in defence but the starting XI for Sunday-s game is still to be confirmed.
“We just tinkered with a few things at training today, we had Taylor and Ben Kantarovski come into that role, so we will just assess that later this week,” van Egmond said.
Francis Jeffers won-t be considered to play this weekend as the Club works through the paperwork for his international clearance.
The 16-man squad for Sunday-s game against Gold Coast is: Ben Kennedy, Taylor Regan, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Ben Kantarovski, Kasey Wehrman, Jeremy Brockie, Ruben Zadkovich, Tarek Elrich, Jobe Wheelhouse, Sung-Hwan Byun, Labinot Haliti, James Virgili, Marko Jesic, Matthew Nash, Ali Abbas and Ryan Griffiths.
