Newcastle Jets stand-in skipper Nikolai Topor-Stanley said he is still confident of getting a result against the Wellington Phoenix despite fielding a depleted side in their Hyundai A-League match on Saturday afternoon.
The Jets will be looking to set a club record of eight consecutive matches undefeated but travel to Wellington without inspirational leader Ljubo Milicevic (suspended) and key midfielders Kasey Wehrman (suspended), Jobe Wheelhouse (suspended), Ruben Zadkovich (back injury) and Ben Kantarovski (knee injury).
Taylor Regan will come in for Milicevic in the backline, Kaz Patafta looks likely to earn his first start of the season in the run-on side while Newcastle have also added National Youth League players James Virgili and Jacob Pepper and Slovenian striker Tomislav Misura to the squad.
Topor-Stanley will be given the captain’s armband and the responsibility of marshalling the defence and is confident the squad players can do the job.
”We have got the depth in the squad and we have proven that. We have had those guys come into and we still get results, so the pressure is just not one me, it is on all of us to lift,” he told Sportal.
”So I wouldn’t say the pressure is just on me. We are all defenders and we are all attackers. It might sound like a cliché but it is true.”
”I couldn’t do half the things I do without the guys in front of me.”
Topor-Stanley said he had played a couple of games this season alongside Regan and was ‘100 percent’ confident the youngster would be up to the task of containing the Phoenix attack.
”Taylor has proven that he can handle himself,” Topor-Stanley said.
”He is quite raw but he has a level head and quite a cool customer and he is always willing to learn and he has shown that he can do the job.”
Topor-Stanley also said he is confident of keeping Wellington weapon Paul Ifill under control.
”He is a quality player, but he is not the only player they have got,” he said.
”We’ve got to worry about everyone but more so we just have to worry about ourselves. First of all we have to regroup and get over there and get mentally prepared for the match.”
