The Newcastle Jets will head west to face Perth Glory in Round 10 of the Hyundai A-League.
The clash proves to be a crucial one for both sides, as the Jets and Glory look to bounce back from last start losses to Melbourne City and the Central Coast respectively.
Midfielder, Ben Kantarovski will line up in Jet’s colours for the 150th time as the 25-year-old racks up a significant Hyundai A-League milestone.
It would be fair to say that both sides have more than their fair share of injuries, as the depth of each squad is tested in the early part of the season.
The Jets are bolstered by the additions of Roy O’Donovan and Wayne Brown to the travelling squad, but Ernie Merrick won’t make any decision on their inclusion in his side until match-day.
Merrick said that while the trip to Perth was a big ask, the club had a favorable draw in the 2017/18 season.
“We’ve got quite a good draw this season, only travelling to both Perth and New Zealand once– so we don’t have much to complain about there,” said Merrick.
“But there’s no doubt that flying that sort of distance does impact performance and we have to do our best to manage that.
“They’ve got a very parochial crowd over in Perth and that’s a great advantage for them, they’ll be primed for a big match after a tough run over the last month playing a number of away games.”
On the injuries that both sides were dealing with, Merrick said he felt it would provide an even contest at NIB Stadium.
“We’ve got a couple of players out, they’ve got a couple of players out, so I think it will make for an even game – but we fully intend on going over there to get all three points,” added Merrick.
“They’ll be looking to turn things around and get back into the winner’s circle, and I think we’ll see an open, attacking style of play from Perth which really suits the way we want to go about things.
“We want to play entertaining football – not just for entertainment – it’s about winning.
“I think that’s the best way to win matches, by creating as many scoring chances as possible, which I thought we really well last week (against City) despite losing the match.”
By the numbers:
- Jets’ midfielder, Ben Kantarovski will line up for his 150th A-League match.
- Newcastle Jets have scored more first-half goals than any other team this term (12) whilst only one other side has recorded fewer than Glory (4) in the opening 45 minutes this season (Melbourne Victory, 2).
- Andrew Nabbout has been directly involved in more goals than any other player this season (9 – 5 goals, 4 assists).
- Nabbout has recorded 13 shots on target this season; only one player has registered more (McCormack, 15).
Saturday, 9 December 2017
Perth Glory v Newcastle Jets
NIB Stadium, Perth
Kick-off: 7PM (local) and 10PM (AEDST)
Referee: Adam Kersey
TV Broadcast: Live coverage on FOX SPORTS 501 from 10pm (AEDST) and Sky Sports 1 (New Zealand)
Radio Broadcast: myfootballnation.com (6PR). ABC News on Radio, Grandstand Digital, Online & via the ABC Listen App – A-League Live.
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #PERvNEW
Newcastle Jets: 3.Jason HOFFMAN, 4.Nigel BOOGAARD, 5.Ben KANTAROVSKI, 6.Steven UGARKOVIC, 7.Dimitri PETRATOS, 9.Roy O’DONOVAN, 10.Wayne BROWN, 12.Mario SHABOW, 13.Ivan VUJICA, 15.Andrew NABBOUT, 16.Nick COWBURN, 18.Johnny KOUTROUMBIS, 19.Kosta PETRATOS, 20.Glenn MOSS, 22.Lachlan JACKSON, 24.Joe CHAMPNESS, 30.Ivan NECEVSKI, 44.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 9.Roy O’DONOVAN (promoted), 10.Wayne BROWN (promoted)
Outs: N/A
Unavailable: 1.Jack DUNCAN (foot – 5 weeks), 8.Ronald VARGAS (ankle – indefinite) 17. Daniel GEORGIEVSKI (knee – 2 weeks)
Perth Glory Squad: 2.Alex GRANT, 4.Shane LOWRY (c), 5.Jacob POSCOLIERO, 6.Mitch NICHOLS, 8.Xavi TORRES, 11. Mitch MALLIA, 13 Nick FEELY (gk), 14.Chris HAROLD, 15.Brandon WILSON, 16.Joseph MILLS, 19.Joe KNOWLES, 20.Jake BRIMMER, 24.Callum TIMMINS, 26.Jacob ITALIANO, 29.Jeremy WALKER, 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 34.Yagoub MUSTAFA
**one to be omitted**
Ins: 24.Callum TIMMINS (promoted)
Outs: N/A
Unavailable: 3.Marc WARREN (ankle – 4-5 weeks), 7.Joel CHIANESE (collar bone – 1 week), 9.Andy KEOGH (groin – 1 week), 22.Adam TAGGART (hamstring – 1-2 weeks), 17.Diego CASTRO (calf – 1-2 weeks), 18. Andreu GUERAO (calf – 1-2 weeks), 23.Scott NEVILLE (groin – 1-2 weeks), 25.Daniel STYNES (hamstring – 1-2 weeks), 66.Mace Windu (Broken leg and back – 6 months)
