Coming off their first away win in over a year against Gold Coast United, North Queensland Fury are full of confidence ahead of their clash against the Newcastle Jets on Saturday night.
The Fury have the chance to move off the bottom of the ladder and surpass the Jets with a win in front of their home crowd.
Forced to play their third game in a week, North Queensland will be fighting both physical and mental fatigue but assistant coach Stuart McLaren believes it’s easier to cope with this coming off a win.
“You do as much as you can to look after yourself physically but obviously on the mental side of things coming off a win, the travel back from the Gold Coast was much easier,” said McLaren.
“You feel a lot better when you turn up to training this morning and hopefully a lot fresher coming here when it’s game time.”
McLaren was confident the Fury could make it two wins in a row if they displayed the same sort of form that stunned the highflying Gold Coast.
“We’ve got to make sure we keep working hard, bring that same sort of enthusiasm we had against the Gold Coast and the same sort of quality and we stand a good chance.”
North Queensland Fury Captain Ufuk Talay was not underestimating their opponent but said their win against Gold Coast and the home field advantage would go a long way towards getting a win.
“We have a tough game on the weekend. I think the team has got a bit of confidence up after the game against the Gold Coast and we’re playing at home so hopefully we can get the three points.”
Newcastle are also coming off a high after they defeated the visiting LA Galaxy 2 – 1 last weekend, Talay saying both teams were in similar positions.
“I think Newcastle have been playing well at the moment and I think they have a lot of confidence as well. Obviously they’re trying to push up the ladder as well so I think it’s going to be a tough game.”
