Newcastle Jets custodian Mark Birighitti says his side is not interested in participating in a pre-match war of words ahead of Saturday’s #F3Derby, instead outlining that Scott Miller’s men are keen to do their talking on the pitch.
Following the Jets’ final training session ahead of their clash with local rivals Central Coast Mariners, the goalkeeper said that the team is focusing all their attention on preparing for the match and claiming the first #F3Derby spoils of the season.
“Reading the media they seem to be taking a different approach, undermining us, and that’s not us,” Birighitti said. “We want to do our talking on the football pitch.”
“The boys are prepared and we just want to do it for the fans and supporters, so we’re really looking for to it.”
Birighitti said that the team was devastated last weekend after falling to Western Sydney Wanderers late in the match, and explained that they had been working hard all week in training to ensure there won’t be repeat come Saturday.
“The boys were gutted last weekend in the dressing room … it wasn’t a good place to be,” he explained.
“Lapses in concentration and goals conceded in the last five or ten minutes are just not good enough, especially when you’re 1-0 up and so close to holding a game out.
“But we’ve gone through it during the week and we’ll be doing everything [we can] on Saturday to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
The ambitious shot stopper says that the Mariners present an interesting challenge due to their style of play and willingness to chance their arm in attack.
While Birighitti says their attacking desire is what makes the Mariners dangerous, he’s sure it can also lead to their undoing.
“They’ve [Mariners] got a lot of good attacking players – the likes of Roy O’Donovan,” he explained.
“Not only myself but the back four are going to have to be on our toes to keep them out.”
“Attacking wise they have weapons, but in saying that they leave a lot of space in behind.”
“That leaves their back four a little bit vulnerable at times.”
“So if we can win the ball in midfield and play through the lines we’ve got the players and the quality to hurt them.”
“If we stick to our structure and our game plan that the gaffer has set in place we’ll go a long way towards winning the game,” he said.
Kick-off in tomorrow’s match at Hunter Stadium is at 5:15pm.
