A nagging knee injury to Newcastle goalkeeper Ben Kennedy looks likely to give new recruit Mark Birighitti a chance to redeem himself this weekend against the Mariners after his woeful debut performance for the Jets.
A nagging knee injury to Newcastle goalkeeper Ben Kennedy looks likely to give new recruit Mark Birighitti a chance to redeem himself this weekend against the Mariners after his woeful debut performance for the Jets.
Birighitti had an unforgettable start to his career at the Jets after conceding a goal against his old club Adelaide United in the opening minute of the match before being sent from the field for handling the ball outside the area.
Kennedy took over as the starting goalkeeper in last weekend’s 3-2 win over Sydney FC as Birighitti watched on from the stands while serving his automatic one-match ban.
However, Birighitti may get a chance to prove himself this weekend in the F3 derby clash with the Mariners as Kennedy is struggling with a knee injury that curtailed his pre-season and could require surgery.
“I felt sorry for Mark, he really had an indifferent game in the first game and he was playing against his old club as well,” Jets coach Gary van Egmond said at the team announcement on Wednesday.
“The first competition game for his new club and it didn’t go to plan and I am sure he is keen to make that wrong a right and he might get his opportunity this week depending on Ben Kennedy.
“Ben’s knee is not 100 per cent at this moment so he is getting some scans done.
“As we’ve stated before, he’s had an interrupted pre-season due to it.
“He may succumb to an operation, but again we will know more about that in the coming days. It is not an ACL but it probably a meniscus, which could be a four-to-six week job.”
The Jets coach will also be keeping an eye on the fitness of fullback Scott Neville who limped off the field in the second half of the match against Sydney with a groin injury.
Neville has been rested from training all week and will be given until the last moment to prove his fitness.
Van Egmond has also named Josh Brillante, Connor Chapman and Adam Taggart in his 22-man squad. The trio are due to return from Young Socceroos duty in Portugal this Thursday and will be assessed for fitness and fatigue.
“Scott Neville came off because of his groin so we’ll wait until Thursday or Friday to make a definite appraisal on him,” van Egmond said.
“It’s about looking at the balance of the squad for this weekend. With a doubt over Scott (Neville) we have a couple of options there and a couple of options to look at on the bench as well.
“We’ve got the young ones coming back from Young Socceroos duty on Thursday morning, hence why we’ve named an extended squad.
“It will be a case of if the players coming back are the right ones to play, they’ll play, but the ones that have done the job on the weekend have definitely gone a long way to securing their job for this weekend.”
“Josh Brillante can play as a full-back or play as a midfielder. Adam Taggart did a good job against Adelaide when he played and he’s done well over in Portugal and it looks like he’s got lots of confidence as is another one in with a chance of being in the squad.
“Connor Chapman has also been doing well. We’ll assess them to see how they are. The get in tomorrow morning and will train on Thursday afternoon, but we’ll make a more definite decision on Friday.”
