The Jets have taken a 17-man squad to Melbourne, as they embark on their six-day stay for Rounds 13 and 14.
The Newcastle Jets have taken a 17-man squad to Melbourne, as they embark on their six-day stay for Rounds 13 and 14 of the Hyundai A-League.
The Jets take on the Victory on Friday evening before taking on the Heart on Tuesday and coach Gary van Egmond is pleased the team has been afforded the stay in between games.
“We have been lucky that the Club will keep us down there; we will settle in, some wives and girlfriends are coming, we are doing what we can to ensure it is usual as in between games as normal,” the coach said before departing for Melbourne.
The Jets are taking James Brown and Bernardo Ribeiro in addition to last week’s winning team and Jack Duncan has been replaced by Ben Kennedy.
“The team won-t be much different to the Sydney game, I thought we played well overall and I would like to reward those guys that won against Sydney with the chance to play against the Victory,” van Egmond added.
Kennedy returns from a knee injury and will be competing for the number one spot with Mark Birighitti now both goalkeepers are fit.
“Ben played 60 minutes with the Youth last weekend, he was out longer than Mark so it was good for him to get game time,” van Egmond said.
“He will be pushing Mark for the number one spot and we look forward to their ongoing battle.”
Friday’s match will bring up van Egmond’s 100th A-League game coached.
“It is nice to get to that milestone and to get to that many games, but that old cliché, I would trade it for the wins,” he said about his achievement.
Newcastle Jets 17-man squad:
1. Ben Kennedy (gk), 2. Scott Neville, 4. Josh Mitchell, 5. Dominik Ritter, 7. James Brown, 8. Ruben Zadkovich (c), 9. Emile Heskey, 10. Bernardo Ribeiro, 11. Connor Chapman, 12. Josh Brillante, 13. Sam Gallaway, 15. Craig Goodwin, 17. James Virgili, 18. Jacob Pepper, 20. Mark Birighitti, 22. Adam Taggart, 23. Ryan Griffiths.
