Mickey Neill and Ben Kantarovski headline the ins, as Carl Robinson names his final 20-man preliminary squad ahead of tomorrow night’s match in Sydney.
Left-back, Neill and midfielder, Kantarovski come into the squad in the place of Matt Millar and Joe Ledley respectively who have both succumbed to hamstring injuries.
Neither is particularly serious, however they are both enough to rule out Millar and Ledley for this weekend.
If he sees game time, our clash with Wellington would mark a Club debut for Mickey Neill. For Ben Kantarovski, an appearance on Thursday would be the first time he’s taken to the pitch since our 4-3 win over the Central Coast Mariners back in February.
One key match-up to keep an eye on is that between Roy O’Donovan and Steven Taylor. The two men are familiar to each other from their days back in the English Premier League, and our Irish striker is sure to be extra fired up on Thursday as he hunts his 50th Hyundai A-League goal.
Newcastle Jets FC Squad: 2.Mickey NEILL, 3.Jason HOFFMAN, 4.Nigel BOOGAARD (c), 5.Ben KANTAROVSKI, 6.Steven UGARKOVIC, 7.Roy O’DONOVAN, 9.Abdiel ARROYO, 10.Dimi PETRATOS, 11.Nick FITZGERALD, 12.Lucas MAURAGIS, 18.Johnny KOUTROUMBIS, 19.Kosta PETRATOS, 20.Lewis ITALIANO (gk), 21.Bernie IBINI, 28.Patrick LANGLOIS, 29.Connor O’TOOLE, 31.Maki PETRATOS, 32.Angus THURGATE, 40.Noah JAMES (gk), 44.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY (2-4 to be omitted)
Ins: 2.Mickey NEILL (promoted), 5.Ben KANTAROVSKI (promoted), 28.Pat LANGLOIS (promoted)
Outs: 17.Joe LEDLEY (injured – hamstring)
Unavailable: 16.Matt MILLAR (hamstring), 17.Joe LEDLEY (hamstring), 22.Lachlan JACKSON (knee – indefinite)
