The Newcastle Jets will look to talented youngster Kaz Patafta to spark their attack in Sunday afternoon’s Hyundai A-League F3 derby against Sydney FC
The 22-year-old Patafta made his debut appearance for the Jets this season from the bench in last week’s match against the Melbourne Heart after recovering from a pre-season injury and looks certain to start in Sunday-s crucial clash in Sydney.
“Kaz is one of those players when he is fit and confident he can make things happen and at the moment the team needs players who can make things happen,” Jets coach Branko Culina said on Saturday.
“He hasn’t had much game time in the senior team recently but he has been playing with the youth team over the last few weeks.”
“He is not an out and out goal scorer but it doesn’t mean that he won’t score but we have a lot of players who can provide us with that type of approach.”
While the Jets have not released their official team for the match against Sydney it appears that key defenders Ljubo Milicevic and Kasey Wehrman will be dropped from the run-on side.
Rookie Taylor Regan lined up alongside Nikolai Topor-Stanley in the centre of the defence this week while Ben Kanatrovski trained in the defensive midfield role.
“Everyone is in the squad,” a wily Culina said. “I have confidence in every player in the squad, I have said that since day one. And you have to have confidence in the depth of your squad when things like we have experienced this year happen.”
