Jets coach Gary van Egmond has heaped praise on Branko Culina’s star-studded Sydney squad, but said his side would be out for all three points against their local rivals this weekend.
<image=”1″ align=”right”> Jets coach Gary van Egmond has heaped praise on Branko Culina’s star-studded Sydney squad, but said his side would be out for all three points against their local rivals this weekend.</image=”1″>
“They’ve got some wonderful players,” van Egmond said.
“I think Juninho’s coming back so that’s a big plus for Sydney. I think [Tony] Popovic is available, which is another big plus for Sydney. Mark Milligan is there, who’s one of the rising stars of the A-League and Australian football.
“Couple that with [Alex] Brosque, [Steve] Corica, Ufuk Talay; [Ruben] Zadkovich is an Olyroo; [Iain] Fyfe has been in the selection as far as the Socceroos are concerned, Clint Bolton who was in the last Australian squad.
“It’s not a bad squad, is it?”
“As far as quality is concerned, Branko’s certainly got the quality there.”
Newcastle defender Adam Griffiths said he thrives on taking on top-quality players.
“It’s always good to play against good players,” Griffiths said.
“I always feel you play your best when you play against quality opposition. So I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Griffiths was determined the Jets’ second-half lapse last weekend, which saw Melbourne climb back from a 2-0 deficit to snatch a draw, would not be repeated against Sydney.
“We knew at half time that they were going to come out and put pressure on us,” he said.
“We knew that without us continuing to play football we were going to struggle. And that’s sort of what happened really.
“They started to make more space and we started to drop off, and they had a couple of chances and that’s all they needed.”
Van Egmond said consistency was the key for his squad.
“We need to obviously be consistent over 90 minutes,” the coach said.
“We probably dominated the game for about 70 per cent of the game against Melbourne, maybe more.
“This weekend I envisage that we might not have as much possession as Sydney at certain times, but we’ve got to make sure we take our chances.
“We definitely are going to Sydney looking for three points, we’re not going to sit back, and I hope it’s going to be a very entertaining game..
