Emile Heskey has wasted no time stating his desire to help the Jets qualify for the 2013/14 A-League Finals Series.
The Newcastle Jets marquee striker Emile Heskey has wasted no time expressing his desire to help the Jets qualify for the 2013/14 A-League Finals Series, after commencing pre-season training with the Club on Friday.
The former England international linked up with his Jets teammates at Ray Watt Oval on Friday morning following an extended off-season break spent with his family in the United Kingdom.
Heskey said that keeping off-season personnel changes at Newcastle to a minimum could play a key role in the Jets achieving their ambition of qualifying for the 2013/14 Finals Series.
“It-s nice to have a secure bunch that know each other and have been playing together for at least a year now,” Heskey said.
“We-re just hoping to do as well as we can. Obviously as a Club you always want to strive and push forward.
“The main thing everyone wants to do is make the finals and we-re no different.
“We-ve just got to keep plugging away and keep the focus on getting good results.”
Heskey said he is confident they Jets have the tools to make a big impact in the A-League this season, provided the playing squad performs to its capabilities on a consistent basis.
“We showed it in bits and pieces last season and hopefully we can be a bit more consistent this year,” Heskey said.
“We have got the players. We-ve had players in the national team for Under 20s and the senior squad and they-re being watched all the time.
“We-ve had players like Craig (Goodwin) go abroad to Reading to train.
“It shows we-re going in the right direction, we probably just need to play with a little bit more consistency.”
Heskey arrived in Newcastle just one week prior to the start of the 2012/13 season, which made for a challenging transitional period while he adjusted to a new team, a new league and a new lifestyle.
The former Liverpool striker said he knew what to expect this time around and is looking forward to having a bit more time to settle in ahead of his second season in the A-League.
“I-m a little bit jetlagged, but it-s nice to get back on the field and to get training again,” Heskey said.
“I-ve been champing at the bit to come over and start training again. It was a long break to have, but I needed the break and I can-t wait to get going again.
“Hopefully it will help me adjust and get fit again. Obviously last season I arrived just a week before the season started, so at least I-ve got more time now to prepare even better.
“We-re working towards the start of the season. The lads have obviously been working going a long time.
“It is a long pre-season to be honest with you and I-m used to only having six weeks in Europe, but here I-ve got eight weeks to get ready, which is more than enough time.”
