Sam Gallaway says the Jets are under no illusions of the difficult task facing them against Wellington Phoenix this Sunday.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets defender Sam Gallaway says the Jets are under no illusions of the difficult task facing them when they travel to Napier to take on Wellington Phoenix this Sunday.
The Jets notched their first win in New Zealand since 2007 when they defeated the Phoenix 2-1 at Westpac Stadium in Round 23 last season.
However, despite the confidence gained from that result, Gallaway said the Jets were still aware of the treacherous nature of a trip across the Tasman.
“New Zealand is a tough trip,” Gallaway said.
“We-ve had a few bad experiences over there in the past few years, but the last game we played Wellington over there we won 2-1 which was pretty rare.”
Gallaway said he expected to have his hands full trying to nullify some of Wellington-s key attacking weapons on Sunday.
“(Kenny) Cunningham on the wing looks pretty sharp and obviously they-ve got the experience of (Paul) Ifill in there as well,” Gallaway explained.
“(Jeremy) Brockie is a top goal scorer who can score from anywhere as you saw on the weekend and they-ve got Hernandez as well who is a threat.
“They-ve got an older team than us and they-re a lot big and probably stronger physically as well.
We-ve just got to be ready to put 100 per cent in and every player needs to step-up.”
While Newcastle currently sit at the bottom of the Hyundai A-League ladder after Round 2, Gallaway said it is still early days in the competition and the Jets were maintaining a positive outlook on the situation.
“Obviously we haven-t won yet and we haven-t scored a goal, but if you look at the table we-re only two points away from third spot,” Gallaway said.
“If we win this weekend we could be sitting in the top four, so it-s definitely not panic stations yet.
“We just need to get that first goal and just go from there.”
Gallaway said the key to the Jets lifting themselves off the foot off the ladder with a win this weekend was to ensure each player in the squad gives it their all and leaves nothing in the tank against Wellington.
“Some of the players do need to lift and step-up their game, including myself,” Gallaway said.
“Everyone has to win their battles and you could see in the performance on the weekend that we-ve just got to take our chances.”
