Craig Deans says the Jets aren’t worried about giving too much away when they face Sydney FC on Sunday afternoon.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets assistant coach Craig Deans says the Jets aren-t worried about giving too much away when they face Sydney FC in a pre-season friendly at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday afternoon.
The Jets play Sydney FC twice in the build-up to the A-League season meaning the two sides will be quite familiar with each other when they face-off in the second game of the A-League season.
However, Deans said the Jets weren-t concerned with keeping too many tricks up their sleeve to save for the Round 2 clash at Allianz Stadium.
“Were not really worried about giving anything away because I think we still need to use the game to work on the things we need to work on,” he said.
“I think we-ll continue to improve over the next four to six weeks anyway.
“The team that we are now will hopefully be improved on by the time we face them in the second round.”
Deans said he expected the Sky Blues to be tricky opposition and a different side to the one they faced in the final round of the 2011/12 season.
“They-ll play a similar style of game to what we do,” he said.
“I know Ian Crook has the same philosophy as Gary does, so it-ll be interesting to see how they-ve changed from last year.
“For us it is about our performance and how we approach the game and whether we get out of the game what we want to.”
The Jets trained with three at the back on Friday and Deans said it was a possibility they could line up that way come Sunday.
“It-s good to have another option and depending on the opposition that you-re playing, sometimes it suits to play with a back three,” he explained.
“We did it a few times last year and it was quite effective so I think it-s something that we need to look at.
“It means that if the time is right and there-s a situation where we need to use it, we can.”
Deans said the change in shape might also create a chance for Craig Goodwin and Dominik Ritter to play in the same starting line-up for the first time since they arrived at the Jets.
“It might give us an opportunity to get Craig Goodwin a bit further forward,” Deans said.
“I think he-s scored six goals in pre-season already, which is a good effort for a left-back.
“If we can get him in a bit more advanced positions then we might be able to get some more goals out of him.”
Match details:
Newcastle Jets v Sydney FC
Leichhardt Oval
Sunday, September 9
Kick-off 2pm
