Gary van Egmond has named an extended 19-man squad for Saturday’s match against Perth Glory at nib Stadium on Saturday.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets head coach Gary van Egmond has named an extended 19-man squad for Saturday-s match against Perth Glory at nib Stadium on Saturday.
Former Jets goalkeeper Matt Nash signed an injury cover contract with the Club this week and comes into the squad as a replacement for Ben Kennedy who had surgery on Wednesday on his right knee.
Scott Neville comes back into the squad after missing the Jets- last two fixtures with a groin injury, while James Brown is in contention to play his first A-League match for Newcastle after missing the first four rounds of the season due to an ankle problem.
“Josh Brillante did a good job last week, but he-s away with the Young Socceroos, so we see Scott fitting in there at right fullback which is his preferred position,” van Egmond said.
“James played a bit over 30 minutes for the youth team last week but he could-ve even done a little bit more.
“He-s really worked extremely hard on his rehab and it-s a credit to our medical staff, in particular Rob Dingle and a credit to James that he is where he is right at this moment.
“He-s looking extremely fit and he did really well in the youth team game and he-s been doing well in training.”
Dominik Ritter and Ben Kantarovski both picked up knocks in training on Tuesday and van Egmond said the pair will be assessed further over the next two days.
“Ben Kantarovski and Dominik Ritter are in the same boat. We-ll have a look at those two and we-ll know more today and tomorrow,” van Egmond said.
“Dom had a scan yesterday which cleared any strain so that-s good news and maybe it has settled overnight.
“Ben gave himself a bit of a shock with the knee, but it was all fine, there was nothing structurally wrong with it.”
Joshua Brillante, Connor Chapman, Jack Duncan, Mitchell Oxborrow and Adam Taggart were unavailable for selection due to their international commitments with the Young Socceroos at the AFC U-19 Championships in the United Arab Emirates.
Despite the absentees, van Egmond said he was pleased with the selection options at his disposal.
“As I-ve said before, if we-re going to achieve anything it-s going to be done with a whole squad,” he said.
“It is a little bit of horses for courses for each game that you play, whether you-re at home or whether you-re away.
“Everyone understands that we-re only going to be as a good as the whole of our squad is.
“As we-ve seen so far the players that have come in have done a good job and the players who-ve come in off the bench have done a good job, so it-s a good position to be in.”
Newcastle Jets squad: 2. Scott NEVILLE, 3. Tiago CALVANO, 4. Josh MITCHELL, 5. Dominik RITTER, 6. Ben KANTAROVSKI, 7. James BROWN, 8. Ruben ZADKOVICH, 9. Emile HESKEY, 10. Bernardo RIBEIRO, 14. Taylor REGAN, 15. Craig GOODWIN, 16. Jobe WHEELHOUSE (c), 17. James VIRGILI, 18. Jacob PEPPER, 19. Michael BRIDGES, 20. Mark BIRIGHITTI 21. Marko JESIC, 23. Ryan GRIFFITHS, 33. Matt NASH (gk).
In: James BROWN, Bernardo RIBEIRO, Matt NASH, Scott NEVILLE and Taylor REGAN.
Out: Nil.
Unavailable: Josh BRILLANTE, Connor CHAPMAN, Jack DUNCAN, Mitch OXBORROW and Adam TAGGART (all on Young Socceroos duty).
