Newcastle Jets coach Gary van Egmond will look to his fringe players to field a team for the “Big Wednesday” match against the Gold coast at Ausgrid Stadium.
Newcastle Jets coach Gary van Egmond will look to his fringe players to field a team for the “Big Wednesday” match against the Gold coast at Ausgrid Stadium.
Skipper Jobe Wheelhouse (virus) and striker Francis Jeffers (ankle) are both ruled out while veterans Michael Bridges, Kasey Wehrman and Tiago Calvano are being managed to avoid fatigue.
Marko Jesic and Ali Abbas as well as youngsters James Virgili, and Jacob Pepper have been included in an 18-man squad for the match.
“Bridgey was saying he feels fine,” van Egmond said at the Jets final training session on Tuesday.
“He gives you that creativity in that front third, which is important, however we don’t want to be flogging him and breaking him down. We have a game down in Melbourne on the weekend so we have to be smart about it and we have to use him the right way so his body is alright to continually participate.”
“Kasey is the same scenario as Bridgey, I have to chat to him and see what we do but they are both in the mix.”
“It is a case of looking to see if you can make the type of changes that will benefit the team and benefit the individuals; some individuals are down on confidence and some might not understand what is being asked still.
“Add in a couple of injuries and it is trying to work out that balance for the Gold Coast game.”
Van Egmond hinted that he may change the point of the attack with Labinot Haliti and Ryan Griffiths favoured for the role while Ruben Zadkovich played in a more defensive role in training.
“We have looked at Labinot (Haliti) or Ryan (Griffiths) playing at the point and Ruben has a massive amount of potential to play at fullback so he is a position that he can make his own,” he added.
The Jets go into the game just one point ahead of the last placed Gold Coast outfit but van Egmond denied it was a must-win game for his side.
“I don’t think it is a ‘must-win game’ but we were disappointed we didn’t get the three points against Perth and we are playing at home again so we need the three points and we don’t want to get to the back-end of the season and be in a position of chasing games against a particular opponent away,” he said.
“They (the Gold Coast) are a dangerous team,” van Egmond added. “They are playing what I call a counter-attack football, which is probably the better type of game for them to play.”
“They have a lot of pace with Halloran and Brown and Rigters and with Traore overlapping and our positioning is paramount so we don’t get countered.”
