The Newcastle Jets will travel to Central Coast Stadium to start their 2017/18 Hyundai A-League campaign this Saturday 7 October – kicking off at 5.35pm.
Battling it out with their arch-rivals in the league’s original derby, the new-look Jets will be looking to start strongly under the reign of the league’s most successful coach, Ernie Merrick.
The match will see the club debuts of Dimi Petratos, Daniel Georgievski and former Mariner, Roy O’Donovan.
Defender, Jason Hoffman is the only player unavailable as he recovers from a quad strain, but is expected to be available for selection in Round 2.
Jets’ boss, Ernie Merrick was pleased with his sides form and couldn’t think of a better way to kick-off their season.
“It’s great to start our campaign with a traditional, local derby and the boys are just excited to start playing for points,” said Merrick.
“Knowing that Paul Okon plays open, attacking football, I think this clash will be just an exciting one for fans with plenty of end-to-end football.
“We’ve done our due diligence during our preparations, but our major focus has been how we’ll execute our own game plan.”
Ultimately, Merrick said he’s looking for energy and effort from his chargers.
“We’re a very capable and skillful squad, but to ensure we’re at our best throughout the 27 rounds of the (Hyundai) A-League season we need commitment and a positive approach and that all starts this weekend,” added Merrick.
Saturday, 7 October 2017
Central Coast Mariners v Newcastle Jets
Central Coast Stadium, Gosford
Kick-Off: 5:35 PM (Local) (5:35 PM)
Referee: Jonathan Barreiro
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 501 from 5:00pm (AEDT) and Sky Sport X (New Zealand)
Radio Broadcast: 1233 ABC Newcastle, ABC Central Coast, Grandstand Digital, online and via the ABC Listen App – A-league Live. Coast FM 96.3.
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #CCMvNEW or #F3Derby
Newcastle Jets squad: 1.Jack DUNCAN (gk), 4.Nigel BOOGAARD (c), 5.Ben KANTAROVSKI, 6.Steven UGARKOVIC, 7.Dimitri PETRATOS, 8.Ronald VARGAS, 9.Roy O’DONOVAN, 10.Wayne BROWN, 12.Mario SHABOW, 13.Ivan VUJICA, 15.Andrew NABBOUT, 16.Nick COWBURN, 17.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 19.Kosta PETRATOS, 20.Glen MOSS (gk), 22.Lachlan JACKSON, 24.Joe CHAMPNESS, 44.Nikolai Topor-STANLEY
**two to be omitted**
Unavailable: 3. Jason HOFFMAN (quad strain – 1 week)
